Fish in the Sea
by Starry-eyed dreamer86
Summary: The way she saw it, there were only two options now. She could move on and try to make Brianna just a fond memory, or she could not let go of Brianna and be lonely the rest of her life. Honestly, she was perfectly happy with the second option, but Headline Academy has an few surprises up its sleeve. "Faith, hope and love are some good things we're given, but the greatest is love."
1. Headline Academy part 1

**Heya! So I just finished the Gone series so I'm fairly new to this corner of the Fanfiction community, so most of you probably don't know me. Well, let me just say that I hated Brianna's death as much as the next guy(or girl) maybe even more, but who really cares? Anyways, but after I go past the initial shock and anger and sadness, I came up with this story idea and I was like, why not? What do I have to loose? **

**Anyways, so, I know in the story it said that her parents took her back in, but we're going to say that, after having her back for six months(Becaust that's approximately how long after the FAYZ coming down that this takes place. Give or take.) her father decides he just can't except having a lesbian around the house, so they send her to this new school. Headline Academy! So read, and enjoy, and I'll talk a little more at the end.  
**

**Oh! One more thing. The description implies that this is about Dekka dealing with Brianna's death, and it is, don't worry, however, I don't focus a whole lot on that in this chapter because right now she has other things on her mind. However, next chapter, I promise the real coping starts! Just bear with me!**

**I don't own Gone, because if I did, Brianna would not have died! (Neither would Jack and Orc and a bunch of other characters, but most importantly Brianna!)**

**Enjoy!**

One would think that, after being separated for over a year, because they decided boarding school was for the best, that the Talents would have opted to have their daughter at home. Sent her to El Dorado High School, but no. Instead, they had sent her straight off to Butchersville, West Virginia to attend Headline Academy. Lovely name for a town, lovely name for a school, and an even lovelier uniform. White, long sleeved button up under a black, snug fitting sweater, boasting the gold and black crest of Headline Academy over the right shoulder, and the tie, striped with the same two colors as the crest. A plaid skirt with a similar color pattern and black knee-socks, with black shoes. Charming.

Well, at the very least, it beat out the Coates Academy uniforms.

The car pulled in front of the large building, and came to a stop as the driver said, "Headline Academy."

She handed him a wad of money, and exited the car.

There wasn't another student in sight, but the girl figured that was because they were all in class, or, at the very least, behind the giant walls that separated the majority of the campus from the rest of the world.

Through the front doors, which lead her into a large, open space, with a long counter on one side and a large screen on the wall of the other with couches and chairs and tables set up in the middle. Behind the counter she could see desks and doors that lead to other rooms, or maybe they were hallways, she couldn't be totally sure. Standing at the end of the counter, leaned over something, with a pen in hand, was a man.

So she navigated her way around the furniture and approached him.

"Not wasting much time in causing trouble this year are you, Chris?" She thought he was talking to her at first, and was about to inform his that she was not this "Chris", but, luckily, someone else beat her to the response.

"It's not my fault Mr. Bolding has it out for me!" A girl, who could only be Chris, argued, coming up beside the man, and staring at his paper, tapping her knuckles against the counter thoughtfully. She looked maybe thirteen, and wearing the Headline uniform, but somehow seemed to be getting away with the sweater being slightly too big, and her tie being pulled far too loose. Or maybe she wasn't getting away with it, maybe that was why she was in the office now.

Or maybe it was her hair. It was a rather odd style. Half of it was shaved, so that only very short, buzz-like pieces of dark brown hair were there, but then, at the top of her skull, it stopped being short and brown, and turned into a long swoop that only barely stayed out of her eyes, and was far to yellow-looking to be natural.

"It doesn't matter though, because Mrs. Garder says that state law says they can't do anything about my hair unless its an unnatural color, or inappropriate, and, technically, it's neither." A smile curls up her lips. "So what are you doing?"

"Paper work, now shouldn't you be getting to class?"

"Shouldn't you be helping the puppy?" Chris counters, giving a pointed look at the girl standing a few feet away from the counter. It was the first time that she was allowed a good look at the girl's face, and it was a bit surprising. The unusual hair cut and multitude of earrings in her ears all gave off a rather hard look that contrasted significantly with her soft facial features, and pretty, crystal eyes. "T'sup!" She called over, giving her head a sharp jerk back.

Unsure of exactly how to respond to the gesture, the girl simply nodded acknowledgment, which made Chris snicker and mutter, "Puppies." before announcing that she did, indeed have to get back to class, and left.

The man glanced up briefly, before returning to his paperwork and saying absently, "Charming, isn't she?" Not quite sure how to respond, she just remained silent. After a few moments of this, the man glanced up at her, dark eyes curious. He was a broad man, with curly, black hair, and a cleanly shaven face that looked rather childish. "You're not mute are you?"

"Excuse me?" Did he just ask if she was mute?

"Guess not. You just don't talk much then." He smiled. "I get it, I wasn't much of a talker when I was young either. Didn't have much to say. What's your name? So I can go get your schedule."

"Dekka...Talent."

He nodded, turned around and disappeared through one of the doors. A few moments of uncomfortable silence passed before he returned with a paper in his hand. "Spell that with two k's?"

"Yeah."

He motioned her forward, placing the paper down on the counter, face up. She came closer, and looked as he pointed to the schedule. "This here is your locker number and combination, and because I always get asked this, Yes, we have lockers here at Headline because its easier to have a pace to keep your stuff here in the main building, than having to run back across campus to your room every time you change classes, or trying to carry everything with you all day. Some people end up doing that anyways, but this way its their choice not just because we don't give them any other options."

"Neal, there's a call for you on line one," an aged woman called from a doorway in the back corner.

"Tell them to hold, I'm busy."

The woman glanced at Dekka, gave an understanding nod, then disappeared again. Neal rolled his eyes. "For some reason when a new semester rolls around I become the busiest man on the staff. Anyways, this here is your room, I'll tell you how to find it when I'm finished. Moving on, this is your class schedule, the first column is your A schedule, the second is your B. Today is an A day, which means you go to the classes on your A schedule, tomorrow you'll go to B. It sounds confusing, but you'll get used to it after a while." He tapped the counter thoughtfully, examining the paper. "That seems to be it. Any other questions, well, almost any kid in the school could answer. When you get out of your first I suggest asking around about Fish."

"Fish?"

"Yeah, ask anyone. They'll understand."

"Right, Fish. Okay then."

"Mrs. Monk's room is on the second floor. Go up stairwell C and the end of the hall that way, down to your left and its the last door on the right."

Dekka nodded, and turned away to leave. "Oh! And one more thing!" She turned back. "We don't get new students around here very often unless you count the new class of kindergartners ever year. Anyways, because of this, the kids are going to try and get as much of a kick out of you as possible, so, just try not to give them too much ammunition."

It wasn't a joke, that much she could tell from his tone and the look on his face. "I'll keep that in mind."

She found the stairwell rather quickly, it was sort of hard to miss, with a large C pinned to the door. Mrs. Monk's class was even easier to find with the help of the man's instructions.

However, convincing herself to go into the classroom was an entirely different story. It shouldn't have been that much of a problem, after all, she had endured far worse, but something about not knowing what she was walking into, because she couldn't see in, considering the window was covered by black construction paper, was unsettling. So she stood, and tried to convince herself she was being ridiculous. It was just a room, after all.

A room that she couldn't see into. A room that could be filled with any number of horrors. She was sure she'd seen in all during her time in the FAYZ, but that only served to prove a long standing point, anything was possible, and anything could be behind that door.

She was snapped out of her stupor, however, by the sound of rapid footsteps. She turned in time to see someone come racing around the corner at the end of the hallway. It was another girl, this one with shoulder-length, dirty blond hair that was pulled up into a rather sloppy ponytail. Her ponytail wasn't the only thing sloppy about her appearance, however. Her white under-shirt stuck far out form under her sweater which was twisted at such an impossible angle, it was a miracle the girl wasn't being choked by the collar. One on her socks was pulled half-way up, while the other was still bunched around her ankle, and her shoes had not been tied, instead, the laces had been stuffed into the sides of her shoes. As she ran, she was tugging her tie into place, while trying to keep a firm hold on the books in her arms.

She came to a screeching halt in front of Dekka, who didn't even flinch, ironically enough. She was scared of walking into a classroom, but not of the prospect of getting bowled over? The girl cocked her head, and smiled up at Dekka, a gesture that made her hazel eyes sparkle brightly. "Hello! You must be new!" Not even a trace of uncertainty in her voice. She was completely convinced that it was a fact. Was it that obvious? Well, to be fair, Dekka did have a very distinct appearance, most people would know if they had never seen her around before, but was that really a solid back-up for her theory?

"What makes you think that?"

The girl doesn't even seem to be faced by the clear annoyance, or at least, she'd thought it was clear. Instead, her grin grew wider. "I know everyone in this school. Plus, nobody stands outside Mrs. Monk's door debating on going in." She finally seemed to grow satisfied with the state of her tie, and reached out to turn the handle of the door, before pausing, "You are in Mrs. Monk's mentoring first period, right?"

Dekka double-checked her schedule, then nodded. "Cool. Come on, then." It sounded like an invitation, for the most part, but there was a barely detectable edge that almost made her think it was intended as a command. Whatever it was, Dekka moved to follow the girl in, that was when she noticed another strange thing about the girl. She had obviously run to class from wherever she had been, and, admittedly, if Dekka had tried to run even the stretch of the hallway, it was fair to say she would have been fairly winded, but this girl didn't even seem to be phased by the run at all. It was the closest thing to a super power you got in the regular world, or at least, I was in Dekka's opinion. "I'm Lauren, by the way, or Lauren Rose, if you like."

"Nice of you to join us, Lauren," a woman, who was seated at a computer behind a desk at the very front of the room, commented before Dekka could reply. The woman was young, that much was clear, with pin-straight hair and dark eyes, that never looked up from her screen. The room itself was rather curiously set up. No neat rows of desks like she had grown used to at Coates Academy. No, the desks in this room were clustered into small groups of five around the room. Two desks side by side, slide to face two other desks side-by-side, then a fifth set up at one end, facing the other four. No all of the students were seated in chirs, either, a boy with long, soft dark hair was seated on the edge of the end desk, and at the group beside theirs, a girl with whitish hair was sitting cross-legged atop one of the desks, braiding the pitch-black hair or a girl who was so thoroughly engrossed in a book that she didn't even seem to notice.

"Sorry," Lauren apologized, the sheepishness that most students showed when arriving to class late not even hinted at. "I slept in late, no thanks to Dark and Twisty over there."

She sent a glare towards the back corner of the room, and Dekka was surprised to recognize the undeniable haircut of Chris. Her back was to them, but judging from the shake of her shoulders, she was laughing, along with the dark-skinned girl beside her. In the seat across from the second girl was a boy with blond hair, with a curious peppered look to it, seated comfortable in his seat, with one foot against the edge of the desk, while he propped his elbow on the knee. It was rather clear that the boy was holding back a smile.

A smile crossed Mrs. Monk's face, but she didn't look up as she said, "Just have a seat...and fix your uniform, please."

"Come on," Lauren whispered, tugging lightly at Dekka's arm. "We have an empty desk."

So she followed, glancing at the faces of the other students. At a group at the front of the room was a duo of girls who couldn't have been older than six or seven, and at a group next to them, was a group of four, heads ducked together and hands making strange gestures. One of them, a boy with messy blond hair, kept glancing up in her direction, before returning to gesturing. They looked to be around eleven, twelve at most. Aside from them, and Dekka, Lauren, and the boy in the back, the rest of the room seemed to consist of students in their early teenage years. Thirteen or fourteen on average.

The end desk at Lauren's group was occupied by a pile of books and binders. Or, at least, it was until Lauren passed it and shoved the binders over onto Chris's desk, before dropping her stuff onto the desk across from the girl, which had been left completely barren.

Chris just laughed, and lifted her head to say something, before her eyes fell on Dekka. "Hey! It's you!" She grinned.

"You know her?" The girl beside her wondered, raising an eyebrow.

"I saw her down at the office."

"Why were you at the office?" Lauren wondered. She was seated sideways in her chair, one foot in the lap of the boy, who was tying her shoe, while the other was propped on the chair so she could tie it.

"Mr. Bolding," she and the other girl replied together.

Lauren laughed. "Really? You don't even have his class this year do you?"

"Nope," Chris shook her head, an act that made her swoop of blond turn into a sort of half-halo. "Apparently that doesn't detour him from trying to get me on house arrest or something." Then her eyes fell back on Dekka. "I never caught your name."

"Dekka."

Chris bobbed her head, then pointed at herself. "Chris." Then she jerked her head in the direction on the girl beside her. "And this is Shanea."

"Not to be mistaken with Sha_l_ea. That's my sister," Shanea added, then seemed to realize she hadn't offered a greeting, so she jerked her head in the same manner that Chris had used before as a greeting. "Yo!"

"The Dark and Twisty Twins. The likeness is creepy, huh?" Lauren joked.

The boy pushed her foot out of his lap, seemingly unconcerned with the girls' conversation as he looked from the empty desk, to Dekka, who had yet to take a seat. "You can sit, you know? The chair's not going to explode or anything."

He spoke as though he had known this girl he had just met all his life. Like they had been friends all their life. A feat that Dekka herself had never been able to accomplish. Another example of a normal super power, she mused, no making a move to sit.

"No, it'll burst into flames," Shanea laughed. "That's far more entertaining."

"And you wonder why they call the two of you the Dark and Twisties." Laruen rolled her eyes as Chris and Shanea high-fived, both laughing at the annoyed look on the boy's face. Or maybe the really though that a chair catching fire was funny. Maybe they thought fire itself was funny. The brought forth rather awful memories that Dekka had to shove away quickly.

"No I don't," Chris was arguing when Dekka came into focus. "I wonder why Rose calls Shanea a Demon Spawn."

Lauren smiled, but didn't get to respond, because at that moment, as she stood and set to work tucking her undershirt into her skirt, a cat call sounded from across the room. The reaction was instantaneous. Ninety percent of the room groaned. Chris huffed, slumped back in her chair, and rolled her eyes, and Shanea's face turned from amused to annoyed rather quickly. Lauren, like everyone else in the room, looked across the space to the group of boys, where the boy seated on the edge of his desk was grinning mischievously. However, Lauren was beat to the punch. The girl with the book snapped the thing shut with such force made a very loud pop that startled those around her, but it was nothing compared to the sharpness of her words. "Would you knock that off!"

"Knock what off?" He wonders, spreading his hands innocently.

"Flirting with everything that breaths!" She huffed.

Andrew gave a derisive laugh. "Silly Julie, I'm not flirting with her!"

"Yeah," one of the other boys at his table piped up. "Even Andrew knows when his case is _that _hopeless!"

"Okay, first of all: Shut up, Tristen. Second of all: Just because she's a GAP Girl, doesn't mean she doesn't want a piece of this!" He gestured to himself, and earned another collective groan.

It was a fair assumption that he was not referring to the store, however, much more about the phrase GAP Girl couldn't be drawn, because the reactions varied. Andrew said it casually, like it was just something you said, as common as calling someone a person, and Lauren seemed to emphasize that impression by her complete lack of reaction, although, she also hadn't had much of a reaction to the original cat call, so maybe she was merely very good at being impassive. Chris, on the other hand, slumped into her chair even farther, and her face took on the first look of embarrassment she had seen since arriving at Headline. Shanea's face grew even more irritated, if that was possible, and she plopped her chin in her hand, and shot a glare in his direction.

"I wouldn't want a piece of that even if I wasn't a GAP Girl," Lauren replied, casually readjusting her sweater and flopping down into her seat.

Dekka had a very strong urge to ask what a GAP Girl was, but the man's warning rang in her ears, like an alarm. _Don't give them any ammunition. _New slang developed very quickly, so it was very likely that, in the year she had been in the FAYZ, new slang had cropped up in the community. Well, a whole new universe of slang had cropped up in the phase only days after it happened, so it wasn't just likely, it was a fact, and chances were, Dekka hadn't even brushed the surface of it all. So, wasn't it a high possibility that asking what the phrase meant could be considered a stupid question? Most definitely, and asking stupid questions qualified as "giving them ammunition".

So she remained silent, and took a seat, because the boy at their group was still watching her, and she figured continuing to stand there may also qualify.

"Sure." A grin split Andrew's face as he said the very unconvinced word.

"You make me nauseous," the dark-haired girl, Julie, sighed, rolling her eyes as she opened her book back up.

"Nauseous?"

"Look it up."

Andrew threw back his head and laughed. "Uh...No!"

Mrs. Monk held up her hands silently, and the room fell dead silent, like someone had flicked a switch and put them all on mute. "Thank you," she said quietly, looking around the room, then back at her computer screen, a deep frown etched across her face, and her eyebrows knit together. She came around her desk, crossed the room, and stood behind Chris, who tilted her head back to look, but the woman was not focused on the younger girl. Instead, her dark-eyed gaze was on Dekka, who she was frowning at in concentration. Then, just as Dekka was contemplating asking if she could help her, or suggesting that she take a picture, since that lasted longer, the woman spoke. "Are you Dekka Talent?"

Dekka blinked. "Yes."

She nodded. "Okay, you must be new." Wow, they must have sensors around here or something. "I'll handle all that in a moment." It sounded more like she was talking to herself, so Dekka opted to stay silent. Mrs. Monk frowned, looked around the room, then finally, her gaze settled on the youngest girls at the front of the room. "Emmeline! Kara!" The two girls jumped, and looked at her. "Where are the twins?"

One of the girls, with just-past-shoulder-length blond hair, replied, "No idea. They didn't show back up yesterday."

"And no one picked up when we tried to call their house," the other, with short hair that appeared to have been died a dark red color, added.

Mrs. Monk's frown deepened. "They didn't drop did they? I mean, I know their parents were a little apprehensive about having them away last year after what happened with.." She trailed off, a pained expression taking over her features, then recovered. "Well, at any rate, it's rather silly to give up a full ride to a school as good as Headline just because of one streak of bad luck."

"Don't worry, Mrs. Monnk," a new voice assured. All eyes moved to the doorway, where two girls, who could only be sisters, stood, and the sight of them hit Dekka hard, like a pew thrown against her chest, knocking the wind out of her. (1)

Because these faces weren't just identical to each other.

**Okay! So! I know his is rather short and all, but I couldn't resist ending it on that note, and adding anything would have been to much, it already seems a bit random, I know, but fear not, every scene had a specific roll(whether to introduce characters, or foreshadow, or something else that will be important later on.) I promise! So, the slang used in this story will all be explained later, but, for those who think they know what it means, you can take a gamble in a review! And I know a lot of you are probably confused about the age variation in the class, that was not poor planning on my part, I'm going to explain that too, at a later time!**

**Any other concerns you may have you are welcome to point out. I'd be happy to explain, or correct it even. **

**1) Haha! Did you catch it?**

**Anyways, because I'm in the habit of doing this(Mostly because I find it helps with reviews) at the end of every chapter, you'll find questions, or challenges, or both. You don't have to take the challenges or answer the questions if you don't want to, but I do award Reader points for correct answers! And all readers points are kept up with, and at certain check points throughout the story, I will offer a prize to the author with the most points(The prize will vary). I do this, because I like the interaction, and I'm a very competitive person myself, so I always like getting a chance to win something every now and again on this site, so I figure there are others on the site that like it too. **

**SO! Challenges!**

**First and foremost! Who are the new coming sisters? It's the big one. Thirty points to the first one to figure it out, because I'm not sure how many of you peek at reviews after that for answers. However, I do offer ten points to everyone after that who gets it right, and five points guessing, and not getting it. (It's the thought that counts!)**

**Second! What do the slang words mean? For guessing Puppy, at the beginning of the chapter(by Chris) I will give 10 points for the first guess, 5 for every one after, and 3 for effort. For GAP Girl, I'll give 20 to the first, 10 to everyone after, and 5 for effort. **

**Third(and final!) Shanea and Chris are known as the Dark and Twisty Twins, so who's Dark and who's Twisty? I have an idea, but this one is actually open for discussion, so, 10 points to everyone who makes a suggestion!**

**So I hope you enjoyed! And I'm glad you've made it this far. I hope you'll leave a review! (I certainly have given you plenty to say if you feel like taking my challenges!) **

**Thanks a ton! Dreamgazer86 OUT!**


	2. Headline Academy Part 2

**Hello again! It's me! So, yeah, this is acutally a pretty fast update for me, but, this chapter also isn't all that long, either. So first things first!**

**To my reviewers and favs and follower! Thanks a ton! My guest reviewer got the first challenge, however, since I can't be sure whether it' the same reviewer every time because it was signed as simply guest, I have no way of giving points, but I do give you credit and thanks! And as for my other reviewer: Breeze xxx got 48 pts, so yay! Go you! Also, JenniferAdams has 30 pts for fav/following. Since I forgot to mention, I give five points for each review, ten for following, and twenty for fav! So, yeah, Thanks!**

**Now read the chapter and I'll talk more later!**

**I don't own Gone, cause if I did, half of the dead characters would still be alive! Especially Brianna! D'X**

**Enjoy!**

_Headline Academy Prt. 2_

One of the girls had come into the room, and stood a few feet in front of the door, while the other hung back in the doorway, a nervous smile tugging at her lips. Physically, the girls were identical. Both miniature, blond versions of Brianna, all the way down to the light array of freckles across their noses and the twin braids that Dekka had grown so used to seeing on Brianna's head.

The girl in the doorway didn't dredge up quite as many memories, because it was rather hard to imagine Brianna looking so timid and shy, cowering in the doorway behind her sister. The other, however, with her confident grin, standing with her arms crossed over her chest, which was puffed out as though that would make her look larger. It couldn't have been more like looking at Brianna, in the flesh, as fearless and confident as ever.

No, she was looking at a much younger girl with dirty blond hair, not strawberry.

But she could have-

She shoved the thoughts away ferociously. Crying, which memories of Brianna had a nasty habit of causing, without a doubt qualified as giving them ammunition.

The twins were looking at her, she realized, two identical, green-eyed looks, as one explained the circumstances of their tardiness to the teacher and the other took as seat at the group with Emmeline and Kara. Emmeline said something then, that forced the girl, the one who had Brianna's personality to match, to look away.

"Okay!" Mrs. Monk called as the other twin left to take her seat. "So, as you all have probably noticed, we have a new student."

_Headline Academy _

The twins had been four when the FAYZ(wasn't that what they called it?) wall had gone up. Only barely four, however, so maybe that was why their mother thought they didn't remember Brianna, their older sister. Well, half sister, but that didn't change anything, Brianna was the best sister they could have asked for. Her birthday had been a mere month and a half after theirs so she had often just rounded their age difference up to eight years.

They had just turned five when it came back down. They'd already been at Headline, the school had been more than happy to allow them to start school a month before their fifth birthday, and not many people at Headline watch the news or read the papers, so the twins didn't know about the wall coming down, until three months after. Their mother had arrived, taken them out of school and whisked them off to California, where they attended a service for hundreds of the kids who had been alive at the beginning of the FAYZ.

Their mother thought they didn't understand what was going on, they both could tell that, but when that blond girl took to the stage, they realized that, this was not a celebration of life. There sister's pictures were hung around because she was no longer around. Just a memory now.

And as that blond girl talked about their sister's bravery, and all of the lives she saved, the twins saw sad faces, and one of those faces was a broad, dark girl with her hair in neat corn rows and something that made them think of the things that their mother had tried often to convince Brianna to wear, but their sister had refused, (weren't they called ear rings?) in her nose. That girl was here now, seated in the back corner of the room with Chris, Shanea, Lauren, and Noah. Not exactly a surprise, Noah and Lauren dubbed everyone their friend at first meeting, and would have insisted on her sitting with them until she found her corner of society.

Weston stared at her, openly because she couldn't do subtlety, it just wasn't in her programming. How well had she known Brianna? Had they been close? Did she know how Brianna had died? How many of the questions that they had not asked their mother because of her clear instability could this girl answer?

Weston felt a hand on her shoulder, and looked back at her sister. It's a rumor that twins share a mental connection that allows them to communicate without words. Like Professor X from the X-men, one of Brianna's favorite movies that she had practically raised her sisters on. Well, Weaston didn't know how other's worked, but her connection with Weslie was not through mind reading, it was through facial expression, body language, things that anyone could pick up on if they tried, but maybe they knew each other's signs better because they spent so much time around each other.

At any rate, this was the same look Weslie always gave her sister when she thought she was about to do some rash, but there was something else there, something like the look she gives her when she's trying to say, "I get it". That could only mean one thing. _Not here. Not now. _

She nodded, and went to take her seat, as Weslie explained their circumstances to Mrs. Monk. Why are you just getting to school today? That's actually quite simple Mrs. Monk, you see, our mother didn't want to send us back to Headline because last time she sent a child to a boarding school, it ended in her getting trapped in a ball for a year, and then being ripped from our lives forever. What changed her mind? We begged.

Yes, they had begged. Headline was their home, the other students were there extended family. Their best friends were here, their mentors; Lauren and Noah. Headline Academy was the only solid ground they had left now that Brianna was gone, and their mother was in her still grief stricken state. She would cry, every night, and often, the twins had heard her mutter about if only. It was so bad now that their father was hardly ever around anymore, because he simply couldn't take it.

_If only..._ Weston was loosing her patience with it as well. Who cares what one changed action could have done? Who cares that if you had fought harder to pull Brianna from Coates sooner, then it would never have happened? If only Weston or Weslie had gone to their father and said how much they wanted Brianna at home more, it wouldn't have happened, but they didn't and it did, and they couldn't change that.

_If only..._what a stupid thought.

_Headline Academy_

"I think everyone heard her confirm her name as Dekka," Mrs. Monk went on.

"Everyone but Raylee," Andrew commented, earning a sideways glare from Mrs. Monk. At the front of the room, from the table of gestureres, a girl with short, sandy hair rolled her eyes, and her hands flew into action, tongue stuck half out and her nose crinkled distastefully.

The kids at her table laughed, as did many of the others around the room. Lauren laughed and waved a hand in the air, causing the girl to look at her. Lauren's hands moved as she spoke, saying, "Don't you think anything connected to the word smart is a bit of an exaggeration?"

The other girl shrugged, and made returning motions, and it finally clicked in Dekka's mind what she was seeing. There had been a boy at Coates who was deaf, and he'd had a rather creepy guy that followed him around everywhere, hands constantly moving as he translated things that the boy couldn't catch himself because of his lack of hearing. It was called signing, or at least, that's what she had heard, she hadn't taken much interest in the boy, he was a senior, so she only ever saw him in the hallways, or at lunch.

"Okay! Let's move on!' Mrs. Monk called, waving her hand for silence, which she got. "Okay, so, I'm going to give a short description of this class for her sake. I'll just mention the most important things and the rest you'll catch on too as we progress." She stood in middle of the room, waving her hand thoughtfully as she talked. "This is mentoring, which is almost like Study Hall, except slightly different. Tuesdays and Thursdays we run like normal study hall; you can do homework or whatever. Mondays we have class discussions, we pick a topic, sometimes in class, sometimes I have one planned before, it depends. Wednesday is Debate Day, where I pick a topic, everyone gets to pick a side, and we debate the topic. Fridays are Challenge Days, where I choose a challenge game, and that's what we do in class for that day, and the winner, or winning team, gets a prize, which will vary, usually." She made a popping sound, and her eyes traveled to a far corner of her vision, as though looking for something. "That's really all there is to the class. Oh! And I always get asked this, so I'm going to go ahead and get it out of the way. I'm sure you've noticed the age variation in the room. That's because my class does not qualify as simply a elementary, or middle school, or high school class, its required for all grades, so they just don't bother trying to separate them all out. So I end up with mixed classes. It's strange, but I don't make the schedules, I just teach who they give me."

Chuckles graced the air at that, making Mrs. Monk smile. "So! Today is Discussion Day and we have about...thirty minutes, give or take, so let's pick a topic and do some discussing! Who has a topic?"

Andrew's hand shot up, but he didn't wait for permission to speak as he said, "I would like to suggest the topic of GAP."

Jeers and groans sound around room. Chirs threw her head back and grumbled, "You have got to be kidding me!" while Lauren and the boy exchanged annoyed glances.

Mrs. Monk blew out a huff of air. "Andrew, Discussion Days are not meant for you to make fun of their classmates' sexuality."

"I'm not making fun!" Andrew argued, a mischievous look taking over. "I just want to know what it means to be Gay And Proud."

"It simply means that I make out in public, same as you, except I do it with girls instead of guys," Lauren snarked. "Since we've settled that, I'd like to discuss what its like being a hopeless flirt."

An uproar of laughter took over the room, and even Dekka had to smile as Andrew's face flushed, and Lauren stuck out her tongue rather childishly.

Andrew fell silent then, pouting for most of the class period, and they settled on discussing musical culture, brought up by a white-haired girl called Jessie. Discussion turned out to be more like casual banter, which was slightly disappointing, because it didn't distract Dekka from the Brianna look-alikes, or Lauren and Andrews' back and forth from earlier. Well, at least now she wouldn't have to ask what a GAP girl was.

How many others were there at Headline. Lauren for sure, and possibly Chris and Shanea, considering their reactions to the name, but other than them? Dekka hadn't spent much time watching at Coates, more focused on determining whether or not Brianna was, but now that she didn't have Brianna...

Did it matter? Any girl she could find just wouldn't be Brianna. It wasn't possible. So really, it didn't matter how many there were. Did it?

When the bell rang, announcing the end of class, she was perfectly happy to make her retreat. Maybe being away from the twins and the "GAP Girls" would relieve her of her thoughts, however, as she was grabbing up her bag, she remembered the man from the office again. _You should ask around about Fish._

"I don't suppose you know anything about fish?" She felt stupid asking.

"Excuse me?" Lauren raised an eyebrow, Chris and Shanea had already made a retreat, but the boy, whom, Dekka had found out, was named Noah, was still standing by the desk, waiting patiently for Lauren, or, at least, she thought it was Lauren he was waiting for, since that was who he was looking at.

"Fish. I was told I should ask about it after class."

"She," Lauren responded, a smile forming on her lips.

"Excuse me?" It was Dekka's turn to raise an eyebrow.

Lauren giggled. "Fish isn't an 'it'. Fish is a 'she'." She then tapped herself on the head lightly. "This she to be exact."

Dekka hated the feeling of heat rushing to her face, and even worse the stupidity of it. Why hadn't she assumed that Fish had been some sort of nick name? How could actual fish possibly help her out at all at this point?

A whistle snapped her out of her thoughts, and she looked up to see Lauren staring expectantly at her, hand held out. "What?"

Lauren rolled her eyes, but her grin, if at all possible, widened. "Your schedule." When Dekka still didn't seem to follow, Lauren shifted her weight to one side and blew her dirty blond locks, falling out or her ponytail, out of her eyes. "Jeez, I might as well try talking to Raylee." _Ouch, being compared to a deaf girl, that's an ego bruiser. _"If Neal told you to look for me, there's probably a reason. Let me see your schedule so I can figure it out."

Dekka handed over the paper, and Lauren scanned it, Noah looking curiously over her shoulder. Quite suddenly, Noah let out a laugh. "You have a room mate now? How long has it been since they last tried to put someone in a room with you?"

Lauren gave him a sideways glare. "Would you shut it? You're going to make it sound like I'm impossible!"

Noah shrugged. "Some people think you are."

"Ouch," Lauren mumbled, moving to hand the paper back to Dekka. "You're room is mine, too, that's why he told you to look for me, and we have second period together, so I can show you to the class." She began to walk away, and when Dekka didn't follow she turned back and spread her hands. "Come on!"

If she wasn't still in so much shock from the events of the past hour, Dekka may have been irritated with this girl, she was acting like she was some five-year-old who's hand she had to constantly hold, but, then again, as the rational side of her brain reminded, Dekka wasn't exactly making anything easy; hardly speaking and completely zoning out half the time.

Still, that didn't justify treating someone like a toddler did it?

_Headline Academy_

Lauren had been attending Headline Academy for seven years. In those years, she had had eight room mates. Three passed through the first two years, before she managed to get her attacks under control. They scared the girls, and their parents, and so the school had no choice. Then, however, the attacks became almost non-existent. She shared a room with a girl for two years, before she died. She lived out in Colorado, and decided to go ice-skating when she was home for winter break. She fell through the ice, and her brother, who had been the only other person there, couldn't get her out in time. When the school year started the next year, she was with a new room mate, however, at that point, Lauren had come to a pretty significant conclusion about herself, and this new quirk turned out to be very good at running off room mates. For some reason or another, it freaks out parents, and some girls themselves, sharing a room with a lesbian. Maybe that's for the same reason that they don't want their kids sharing a room with a guy, but seriously, if your kids straight what do you have to worry about?

It didn't matter much though, because that just meant Lauren got the whole room to herself. Five room mates that year, they had a particularly large influx of puppies that year. Then, the school decided it was best to just stop trying, and last year, Lauren had gone the whole year without a room mate.

Lauren felt her phone vibrate, and tugged it out of her shorts', which she wore under the skirt, pocket. It was Noah.

_Ten says she's in the office asking for a transfer by the end of the day. _

_ Why so soon? _Lauren replied, glancing back at Dekka, who didn't seem to notice, or maybe she just didn't care.

_They always go by the end of the day they find out, and, thanks to Andrew, she already knows. _

_Unless she was zoned out when that was going on, too, _she thought it, but didn't put it into the phone. It wasn't a thought meant to be shared, because most would take it as a rude joke, but that wasn't it. It was an actual theory, because the girl had seemed in her own world ever since...when had it started? She wasn't that bad at first, but, sometime during first period, she had collapsed in on herself and hadn't seemed to have found a way to rebuild yet. So instead Lauren replied, _Double says she makes it to the end of the week. _

_ I'll take that._ She smiled and shoved her phone back into her pocket as they came into Mrs. Garner's, the biology teacher, room. She found Lilah, a girl with shoulder-length, thin black hair and excited dark eyes, seated in the back, at a row of three desks. She waved absently for Dekka to follow, and made her way over.

"Hey Lih," Lauren greeted, sitting down in the seat beside her. "How are you?"

"Good. The hospital flooded this summer, so my moms were forced to take off of work, so we got to spend a week at the beach, which was really fun." Her eyes fell on Dekka and they lit up. "Hey! I know you! You were all over the news! Well, I mean, it wasn't _just _you, I mean, it was all of the kids in the FAYZ thing, but-"

"The what?" Nobody at Headline spent much time watching the news, or reading the paper, and most even had news blocked from their computers, so much news from the outside didn't get around. However, every time Lilah went home for summer, she never bothered going home during most holidays, because her parents were very busy doctors who wouldn't' be around for half of the break anyways, she was chalk full of outside gossip. Lauren, on the other hand, actually spent her summer at the school, since her legal guardians were the owners of the school, so she never got any outside news, except what she heard around the school.

"The anomaly thing that went up almost two years ago," Lilah pouted at Lauren's ignorance.

"It stood for Fallout Alley Youth Zone," Dekka murmured, a pained look taking over her face. "Howard named it. He was good at coming up with names, even if that was all he was good for."

Lauren got the feeling the girl wasn't talking to them, and probably didn't want to think they were listening, so she spoke, "You mean that thing out in California? The wall thing that had all the government scientist and stuff going nuts?" Lilah nodded, and Lauren snorted, thinking about the physics geek Greene, who had gone practically insane when the wall came up. Never stopped talking about it.

"It came down last year. Almost half of the kids originally in it came out dead, or dying," Lilah looked pained. "Mom was still a wreck when I came home in June, all the horrible things the kids they had to take care of had been through. Now every time I complain about anything she pulls the "Well, it could be worse, just look at what happened to the perdido beach kids!" card. Then I get absolutely no support from my other mom, who pretends like she has no idea that I'm being thrown to the wolves!" Lilah huffed, causing black hair to fly crazily. "Weston and Weslie knew someone in it. That's why they got out of school last year, remember?" Lauren nodded. "Yeah, they went the the memorial service that California set up."

"So their person died," Lauren cringed at the thought. She had been seven when her own family died, and she didn't wish loosing a loved one at that age on anyone.

"Yeah, she did."

"Was she their sister?" Dekka's chocolate colored eyes were wide now, staring at Lilah, who thought about it.

"I think so...half-sister, actually, but still-"

"What was her name?" Something in the girl's tone sounded wrong. Like she knew the answer, but didn't want it to be true.

Lilah's face scrunched up, as she glanced around the room as though the walls held the answer. "Er... Anna...I think. No wait, that doesn't sound right..."

"_Bri-_anna?" The other girl pressed, and Lilah's face lit up.

"Yeah! That's it!" Then she frowned, when she noticed the pained look on Dekka's face. "Oh...I'm sorry. I shouldn't have said anything."

Dekka didn't seem to be listening anymore. Lilah fell into a rather awkward silence, which may have been the most disturbing part of the situation. "Well, Dekka's my new room mate."

Lilah laughed. "They're trying that again? Does she know yet?"

She laughed, nodding. "Yeah, Andrew wanted to discuss GAP in first period, so..."

Lilah threw back her head. "Oh my-"

"Yeah, I know." Lauren shook her head. "He's ridiculous."

Lilah's third period was across the hall from Coach Urrie's Geometry class, which Dekka had, so the girl agreed to show her the way.

Lauren's own third period was history, with Mr. Ross, across the building. Rose Creed was in the class, too. Rose was a girl with fiery red curls and too-pretty blue eyes. Too-pretty. That was a very good way to describe everything about the girl. She was the beauty of the GAP Girls' Clan, as the school had come to call it, but Lauren was not allowed to take her thoughts much farther than that, because Rose was Chris's girlfriend, not hers.

Rose kept up an easy conversation the entire class period. Rose was head of more school associations than you could count, but she was most infamous for her job in advertising. Not just for Headline itself, but for all the clubs in headline. She created t-shirts, hats, scarves, anything you could imagine, for the band, spirit squads, pretty much every club, except for art club, who refused to allow anyone but its own members to design their things. She also did side projects for names that popped up around school. For example, it was her fault that the phrase GAP had stuck so solidly, which embarrassed Chris beyond belief. Her projects, however, were her favorite topic. She avoided talking about her family, just like Lauren, which made talking to her even easier, because she didn't finish sharing a story about her mother, then look expectantly at you, as though waiting for you to share your own stories, none of which Lauren herself had.

When third period ended, Rose and Lauren trekked across campus to the large gym together, Rose still going on about her plan for the photography club t-shirts.

_Headline Academy_

Dekka came out of third period feeling considerably more alert, now that she had been given around an hour to clear her mind of all thoughts of Brianna, and the FAYZ.

Unfortunately, that meant that she wasn't able to ignore Chris as she came up from behind. "Hey! It's you again!" She called, falling in step beside her. She stared over at the schedule in the older girl's hand, and grinned. "Gym? That's where we're going," she gestured to herself, and Shanea, who had just come out of the class in front of them. "We can show you!"

"Show her what?" Lilah wondered, coming up beside Chris, and cocking her head at the schedule. "Oh, hey! We have gym together!"

"You have gym next period, too?" Chris grinned, holding up a hand. Lilah laughed and clapped the other girl's hand.

Dekka followed them as they began pushing through the crowd, for lack of any other option. They lead her down an almost empty side hallway, then branched of to a side door, down a dark, storage-like hallway, on the other side of which they found Julie, seated precariously on a lopsided desk, eyes sliding across the pages of her book. She looked up when they approached and commented. "It took you long enough. I see you brought a party with you." She raised her eyebrow at Dekka, or maybe it was at both her and the dark-haired girl walking between her and Chris, but it felt like it was directed solely at her. "I thought Lauren was the puppy's escort today."

Lilah laughed. "Lauren can't be everywhere."

"That's true," Julie shrugged, hopping off of the desk and collecting her faded messenger bag off of the floor. "I'm Julie, by the way."

"Dekka."

"I know," Julie replied, opening the door. "I heard Mrs. Monk this morning, and I remember everything."

Chris laughed. "She's not exaggerating, either!"

"Of course I'm not." Julie rolled her eyes. "I don't exaggerate, _you _exaggerate."

"Someone's feeling defensive today." Chris frowned.

"I just spent three months locked in a house with my mother and obnoxious older sister, who question _everything _I do or say, of course I'm feeling defensive!" Julie gave a huff, that turned into a sigh. "I'm also in a bit of a mood, can't you tell?"

A wave of laughter followed her words, causing a smile to spread across Julie's face.

They had come out into a large, open area outside the main building. Behind the wall of Headline was a large expanse of flat ground, that stretched ridiculously. Buildings scattered across the area at odd intervals, as though someone had simply dropped them out of the sky, and left them in the place they landed. Their procession moved across the expanse towards a building that had another wall stretched out behind, like a scale model of the campus itself.

Inside was a dingy-looking basketball court, with faded white floors and walls painted gold and black, chipping, and completely gone in some places.

Kids were milling around the gym, small groups scattered around making loud conversation that caused the room to sound like it was buzzing. Chris glanced around, then, started to make her way across the gym to the far wall, where Lauren was leaned against the wall, near a thick wooden door. She bobbed her head and listened as a fiery-haired girl talked, as did the third girl, seated in the chair beside the door. She looked to be a much younger, girl with short, dust-colored, breezy hair.

Chris put an arm around the shoulders of the fiery haired girl, and kissed her cheek, saying, "I looked for you yesterday."

"Yeah, I was in meetings all day yesterday," the girl sighed, turning to face the other girl, causing Chris's arm to fall from her shoulders. She took the other girl's hands in hers and said, "How about dinner in my room tonight to make up?"

"Hey, if you don't take her up on that offer I will," Lilah joked.

The red-haired girl glanced at her, then caught sight of Dekka. "Hi!" She released Chris's hand and held hers out to Dekka. "I'm Rose Creed, student council president!"

Dekka glanced at her outstretched hand uncertainly, but Shanea was already providing a distraction. "And head of everything else."

"Oh, Demon Spawn, I see you've come back from your fortress in Hell to wreak havoc amongst the rest of us again." Rose smiled too sweetly.

"Nice to see you, too, Best Friend's Girlfriend," Shanea replied with a roll of her eyes.

"No rude come back? You're slipping Demon Spawn!" Rose pouted.

"I was told I had to be nice, and, unlike you, I'm capable of abiding by the wishes of the people I care about, or do you care?" Shanea cocked her head.

Rose's jaw dropped. "How dare you!"

Before she could go on, however, the were interrupted by a ringing laugh sounding across the gym. Rose's nose crinkled and she muttered, "Oh for Pete's sake!"

Standing in the doorway of the gym was Andrew, dark eyes alight with their mischievous light. "How did all five you you end up up in the same class?" He wondered.

"All five of who?" Dekka thought, not realizing she had spoken aloud until Lauren answered.

"All five of the GAP Girls," she replied, causing Dekka to look over at her in surprise. She had come off of the wall, and moved to stand beside the other girl, staring at Andrew. "Could of been even more ironic!" She called over to him. "The GAP Guys could have been here, too!"

"Ah, the The Voice of Reason presents an excellent point," Andrew said dramatically, waving his hand. "Still, the irony is strong!"

"Would you shut up before I come over there and punch you in the mouth!" Chris snapped.

"Aw, yeah, now you ruined the mood! Thanks a lot, Chris!"

"Six," Dekka sighed, causing Laruen to look at her curiously.

"What?"

Dekka didn't answer, because it wasn't meant to be heard, and she didn't feel like explaining herself, instead she said, "You should tell your friend to pay up." Lauren blinked in surprise, and it was painfully obvious that she hadn't realized Dekka was aware of the bet about how long before she opted to change rooms, but the girl hadn't been particularly sly about reading the messages. She might as well have handed it to Dekka and said, "Here check this out!"

"I'm afraid you're stuck with me."

**Okay, so this chapter was mostly for character development and introducing more important characters. I also set up for things that we'll see unfold in future chapters, you may have caught those moments, may have not. **

**The twins! I'm sure when you read this you all had a sudden flashback to Hunger when it talked about Brianna's mom and step dad and twin half sisters, right? That was how this story was inspired, when Brianna died, I suddenly remembered the sisters and thought about what it would be like if Dekka met them and they were just like Brianna and thus..Yeah, I'm going to move on now...**

**I think I made it pretty clear, but just in case, a puppy is the Headline Academy word for a new student! And GAP: Gay And Proud. I used to hear that all the time around school when I was younger, and I needed something to call it and that came to mind, so, yeah, I will plunge more into Rose's hand in spreading that in later chapters. Also, I know lots of you are thinking: Why would you mention PTSD attacks then not explain? I will explain! Don't worry! The more you read my work the more you come to realize that I set things in chapters, then later come back and elaborate on them. So yeah, no worries. Also, I am going to elaborate on Rose and Shanea's distaste for each other as well!**

**Okay, I think that's everything I needed to cover..if you have any questions well, that's why we have review and PM buttons! I will be happy to explain(or at least try to) anything! **

**So! The final part of my A/N!**

**There really isn't any way for me to set up a challenge from this chapter, so I'll just ask questions and I'll give five points for each question you answer! K? Kool!**

**1. Which character focus(you can't really call them POV's because that implies first person, so I call them Character Focuses since they focus on one character in particular, mostly...) was your favorite?**

**2. Which character has made the best first impression for you?**

**Remember, these aren't mandatory to answer, just for fun! **

**Don't forget to drop off a review, and thanks for reading! ^.^**


	3. Because a Hero Died

**Heya! I'm back! Big thanks to my reviewer! You're awesome. I won't talk much here, because it's late as I type this, so here we go:**

**Breeze xxx: 53 pts**

**JenniferAdams: 30 pts**

**Okay, I don't own Gone, other wise this story would be VERY different because Brianna would be in it in body instead of in spirit. But, no, because MG killed her...*cries hysterically* Okay, I'm done now.**

_Chapter 3_

"I'm afraid I've sort of taken over the room," Lauren was saying as she began clearing books off of the beds. The rooms at Headline put Coates Academy to shame. The walls were long enough to link the beds up length-wise across them and still have standing room. Against one wall was a long, squat dresser, and beside it, in the corner, was another door. One bed was pushed into the back corner of the wall also holding the entrance, and the other was set up in the same manner on the opposite wall. Beside the beds, taking up part of the final wall, were two large night stands, and between them was a small book shelf. At the foot of the bed on the opposite wall was a large window that most likely looked out into the small (or at least compared to the rest of the school) courtyard in the middle of the girls' dormitories, but she couldn't be sure because it was covered with a thick, black material that had been stapled roughly to the windowsill. "That's what happens when you live by yourself for a year."

"What's with the window?"

"What?" Lauren nearly dropped the books, but managed to steady them, only barely. Dekka gestured to the window in response, as soon as Lauren's attention was back on her. Lauren looked at it and frowned. "Oh...that." She hefted the books and plopped them on the bookshelf, back facing Dekka, and the girl got the feeling that Lauren's timing had been very deliberate, a fact that she considered proven true when Lauren didn't immediately turn back around, but instead, stood in front of the case with one hand still on top of the books while the other swung at her side in small motions. She was trying to gather herself. "Personal preference," she said at last, turning back to face Dekka, her smile in tact, except that now, it didn't look quite as genuine. Maybe it was just Dekka's imagination, but it seemed slightly forced now, where as before, everything had seemed real. "If you want to take it down you can, but, uh, you'll have to do it yourself, because..." she sighed. "Because I just can't..."

Dekka stared at the window. She definitely wanted it down, for the same reason she had been reluctant to enter her first class. If something were to break out in the courtyard, then there would be only two options. She could ignore it, which was as un-Dekkaish as a thing could get. On the other hand, she could go try to help, but she would be rushing blindly into it and that was something that she had grown to despise. Sure, it wouldn't stop her from coming to help, but it didn't mean she liked the idea any better. However, Despite her strong desire to take it down, Dekka found her feet taking her instead to the bed that Lauren had cleared for her.

She put a hand on the plain, black comforter. "I guess this is mine?"

Lauren nodded, flopping down on the floor, leaning against her own bed. "I've sort of been sleeping in this one for four years, so it's kind of become a comfort thing."

"Yeah, I get it." Dekka nodded, taking a seat on the edge of her bed.

Lauren smiled, which had returned to its usual honest cheeriness. "Lunch?"

"Sounds good," Dekka replied, getting to her feet. Lauren, however, shifted only to tug at the side of her bedside table, and the front swung open, revealing it to be a small mini-fridge.

Lauren's smile turned into a wide grin when Dekka raised an eyebrow at her. "The school's not technically allowed to let us have outside foods in our room, but none of them really support that law, so a kid a few years ago came up with this, so that we can have these in our rooms without the school getting in trouble from the state." She reached into the the fridge absently, asking, "You don't have anything against sandwiches do you?"

Dekka couldn't help a smile. "I'm not picky when it comes to food."

"Me either," Lauren laughed, pulling a loaf of bread from the fridge.

She removed her two pieces and handed it to Dekka who had taken a seat across from her, leaned against the corner of the bookcase. "I spent quite a bit of time in the ICU when I was younger and they weren't exactly keen on letting me eat all that much, what about you?"

The question surprised Dekka, and she had to remind herself that Lauren hadn't heard all of the horror stories from the FAYZ. She was blissfully ignorant, yet not, in a way. She had this aura, like she could understand any situation no matter how impossible it seemed. Like Dekka could tell her about her nightmares about the bugs, and how she constantly relived Brianna's death, and Lauren would be the only person in the world who understood any of it. It was almost as though someone had taken Sam and changed him into the form of a girl. A girl with, now properly pony-tailed, dirty blond hair and thoughtful hazel eyes, and a smile that could turn a room bright with ease, pulled up a little more towards her ears on the left side, not too drastically. In fact, it was almost unnoticeable, it most definitely wasn't something she normally would have noticed.

Maybe the FAYZ had simply made her more attentive to detail among the many other things.

She couldn't seem to put much sarcasm into the next statement, however, as she replied, "There weren't exactly food stamps in the FAYZ."

Lauren laughed. "Fair enough."

The door to their room swung open, and in tromped Chris and Shaena. Chris swung a lanyard bordly around her finger while Shaena carried a box in her arms, covered with what seemed to be a black trash bag. "We bring food," Chris announced proudly. "Figured we would need to make up for this morning, so we came back to school prepared!"

"So you were planning on letting me sleep in and be late?" Lauren pouted.

Chris shrugged, taking a seat beside the older girl, "Gotta get our kicks where we can don't we?"

"How did you get in here?" Dekka wondered, staring back at the doors. "Do they not lock automatically when you close them here?"

"No, they do," Shaena assured.

And in order to answer how they had gotten in, Chris held out her lanyard, revealing two key cards hooked onto it. "Lauren gave us a spare, so that we can wake her up in the mornings, because she sleeps straight through actual alarms."

"That is true," Lauren sighed, giving Chris a sidelong glare.

"What? She was going to figure that much out anyways," Chris rolled her crystal-blue eyes.

Lauren didn't answer, but instead, handed her a can of soda. "What kind of meat did you get this week?" Shaena changed gears lazily, accepting a drink of her own.

"Turkey," Lauren answered, offering a drink to Dekka. When the girl didn't take it immediately, she put it on the floor beside her tauntingly, and Dekka's resolve crumbled quickly, leaving her no choice but to open the can and take a sip as Lauren went on. "I think Neal's convinced I'm getting fat." She thumped her stomach, as though for emphasis, but there didn't seem to be any fat _too _emphasize. She handed the package of meat over to Shaena for her to examine, while the girl snapped about how she didn't want to hear any self-aimed fat jokes from Lauren.

Chris shrugged as Shaena handed the meat over to her. "Who cares? As long as he's getting real meat instead of that soy crap the serve in the cafeteria."

"It's not that bad," Lauren argued.

Chris laughed. "You'd eat anything. Just like Shaena."

"That's a lie!" Shaena objected. "I don't eat everything! For example, I won't eat anything still moving."

"Gross." Lauren crinkled her nose. Then, she looked at Dekka, and gestured to the fridge. "What's mine is yours. Get whatever you want."

Dekka didn't move to take anything from the fridge, but did accept the bag of turkey when Shaena offered it.

"So, where are you from, Dekka?" Chris wondered casually, popping open a bag of chips.

"California," Dekka replied after a moments pause, in which she had to remind herself that people at Headline weren't as connected with the outside world, they hadn't seen her all over the t.v, so there questions weren't suspicious, they were just trying to get to know her. Sure she wasn't going to give them her whole life story or anything, but where she came from wasn't something for which she could justify not telling them.

"Do you like it there?" Shaena continued, offering the box of chips to her. Dekka picked one out, not caring which she got, and thought about the question, or, more accurately, how she could answer the question without raising to many unwanted questions, or completely lying.

"It sort of hits a little too close to home." Dekka winced at how childish it sounded, and how completely opposite of what she had been going for it was. Her home in California wasn't all that far from Perdido Beach, and, really, no distance felt far enough from the scene of the worst year of her life. That wasn't all though. Her house held too many memories. So many memories of what had been. The time that had led up to her being sent to Coates. So many things that reminded her that, had even the slightest detail of her life gone differently, she may never have ended up in the FAYZ, and accompanying them, came even more terrifying thoughts. Thoughts such as, would she change any of those details? Would she give up meeting Sam? Or Edilio? Would she give up fighting next to them to protect the kids of the FAYZ? Would she give up all of those precious moments with Brianna?

No, she wouldn't. Brianna was one of few things in her life that she would never change. The one thing that was right, and _that _was a fact, even if the therapist that had been set on her in the beginning tried to tell her otherwise.

She couldn't have been more grateful when Chris's voice brought her back to reality, or at least she thought she couldn't, until she realized that the girl was not pressing the issue of her response. "Yeah, lots of kids around here prefer Headline over their own homes. Most of the kids not on scholarships have bad home lives, and even lots on scholarship. That's why they sent in audition tapes in the first place, anything to get out of their homes for free." Chris frowned thoughtfully. "It's like, their safe haven. Maybe you'll come to see it that way, too, you know, instead of 'the place my parents sent me because they didn't want me at home'." Dekka found herself utterly amazed at how easily the girl had turned the dark subject of kids with horrible home lives into a slightly more joking subject.

"How do you know I'm not here on scholarship and my parents actually adore me?"

"Because, kids who come here on scholarship with adoring parents don't get dropped off all by themselves. Their parents always come in to make sure everything is set up for their kids," Chris replied, not even pausing for thought.

Dekka had no argument for that point, so instead, she changed the subject. "What about you? Where are you from?"

"Oregon!" The two younger girls whooped in unison, clapping their hands together enthusiastically.

"I take it you like it there?"

"People in our town are tons of fun to mess with," Chris laughed. "We're banned from half of the associations in town."

"And you're proud of that?" Dekka raised an eyebrow.

"They're Hell-raisers, of course their okay with that," Lauren giggled.

"Hell-raisers is a bit of a strong phrase, don't you think?" Shaena pouted.

"Whatever," Lauren replied absently, checking her phone. "Back in ten," she announced, stuffing the last of her sandwich into her mouth.

The other two girls jumped into action. Chris shoved the last of her sandwich into her mouth and reached under Lauren's bed, pulling out a small container, from which she produced a curious looking device that she popped onto the top of her half empty can. She proceeded to do the same to Shaena's and Lauren's drinks, and offered a fourth to Dekka, explaining, "They're seals. They keep the drinks fresh. That way if you have to make a hasty retreat, you don't have to waste the drink, but you don't end up with a flat drink later."

Dekka reached out and took it, popping it into place on her can, vaguely remembering seeing the device several times at Coates, from a girl who's father was on the school board. Chris handed the drinks to Lauren who was wrapping a ponytail holder around her half-eaten bag of chips. She placed the bag on top of the fridge, and took the drinks placing them into the device, along with the bread and turkey. Shaena was at work shoving the trash into the trash can set up beside the exit. Chris snapped the container shut and slipped it back under Lauren's bed, as well the box full of chip bags.

Lauren straightened, closing the mini-fridge as she did, and held a hand out to Dekka, silently offering a hand up. Dekka climbed to her feet by herself, politely dismissing Lauren's offer. The girl shrugged and offered her hand, instead, to Chris, who did accept it.

"Careful," Shaena commented teasingly, from her position by the door. "If The Queen of Jealousy hears you're making physical contact with her girlfriend she may start to call _you _Demon Spawn."

Lauren laughed, and Chris scowled. "Come on, girls, she's not _that _bad..."

Both girls gave her rather pointed looks that made her wince. "Okay, she's pretty bad."

"_'Pretty bad'?" _Shaena shrilled, or at least, as close to a shrill as she seemed to be capable of. "She's jealous of me, and I'm not even gay!"

Chris threw up her hands in surrender. "Okay! She's really bad.."

Dekka didn't hear the rest of the conversation, too focused on her own thoughts. Had Shaena just said she _wasn't _gay? Dekka had almost been positive that Shaena was the fifth and final...what did they call them here? GAP girls? So who was the fifth, then?

"Jazz!" She could hear Lauren's voice vaguely but she couldn't concentrate on it. She was too busy trying to work out the fifth-

Wait? Why did she care? She was still in love with Brianna, and wasn't planning on moving on anytime soon, so why did it matter who was gay at this new school.

"Jazz! Slow down!" A small girl walking ahead of them came to a stop and turned to face them. It was Jasamin, a thirteen-year-old who looked far younger than thirteen. Dekka recognized her from P.E. She had big, sad brown eyes, and short-cut, mousy brown hair. She clutched her books to her chest tightly, as though they were there to protect vital organs from an attack, and not there because she needed them for class. She smiled when she saw Lauren; a real smile, but still the saddest that Dekka had ever seen. It was as though happiness was an emotion unable to work its way into her features.

Dekka mentally scolded herself for thinking she knew how that felt.

"Hey, Lauren." Her eyes ventured over to Dekka. "...and Dekka, right?"

That was when Dekka noticed something else. They were no longer in the company of Chris and Shaena. She opened her mouth to ask about them, then changed her mind, and nodded in answer to the younger girl's question instead.

"You know," Lauren spoke, placing an arm around Jasamin's shoulder, which looked extremely peculiar considering the significant height difference. It was made to look even more odd when they continued to walk, which looked more like waddle on Lauren's part. "Between Rose's and Lilah's chattering the rest of us couldn't get a word in edgewise. So how was your summer?"She paused, then added, "I mean, once you get past your psycho dad?"

Jasamin let out a sigh that sounded like it was on the verge of being a laugh. "Not bad. The local ice cream parlor owner agreed to let me volunteer during the summer, so I don't have to spend so much time at home."

"That's really cool!" Lauren grinned, finally deciding that her awkward waddle was to difficult to maintain, and straightening, removing her arm. "He's nice right? Doesn't let anyone cause you trouble?"

Dekka felt like she was witnessing a conversation between two sisters. The comfortable manner they held their conversation, the protective look that came over Lauren's face every time Jasamin's dad came into the conversation, and when she asked about people causing trouble.

"It's a public restaurant. It's not like he force everyone to be polite, although he certainly tries."

"Good." The other girl accompanied the statement with a nod of her head.

"How about you?" Jasamin went on, trying to keep the conversation at it's comfortable pace. "Good summer?"

"There's only so much entertainment you can get out of this place without the rest of the school here," Lauren shrugged. "So where are you headed?"

"Science, you?"

"Geometry. Who do you have?"

"Mrs. Norrell ."

Lauren's nose crinkled. "I feel sorry for you..." She thought a moment, then said, "Mrs. Norrell is right beside Coach Nutcase's room. Would you mind showing Dekka?"

Jasamin shrugged. "Why not? Unless you plan on testing my ability to act as a human punching bag as soon as Lauren's gone, of course." It was a joke, judging by the smile tinted with as much humor as Jasamin seemed to possess, but something about it sounded pained, and all too serious. It sent a shiver up Dekka's body.

"Don't worry," she replied, dryly, "human punching bags aren't really my thing."

That earned two very opposite smiles. They walked to the main builing together, then Lauren split away, off to Coach Urrie's room while Jasamin led her deeper into the building. Dekka tried to memorize the path, but she lost track. Left then through the large double doors in the E wing, down a side hallway on the right, left, the first door on the left into another hallway, left, or maybe it was right?

"Don't worry," Jasamin assured, looking back and noticing Dekka's look of concentration. "The only person who ever memorized these halls their first day was Julie, and that's only because of her photographic memory."

"Oh really?" Dekka wondered calmly, noticing the large G on a door and taking mental note of, split right from the G wing. "How long did it take you?"

"By the end of my first year here, I only barely knew how to navigate the main hallways." She reached out and wrenched open a door, that lead into a still crowded hallway. "And there are lots of off-wings in this school."

"I've noticed."

Jasamin pointed across the hallway to a door, and announced, "Coach Nershall's class. My advice: be careful. There's a reason we call him Coach Nutcase." Then she was gone, disappeared through the door beside Coach Nershall's.

"Third row, fourth desk back," The voice of a familiar salt-and-pepper haired boy called out, spotting her as she strolled reluctantly into the room.

"Are you trying to tell me where to sit?"

"It's only a suggestion." Noah shrugged. "Unless, of course, you've considering ignoring it, then...yeah, I am."

"And what if I still don't sit there?"

Noah laughed. "This is not a debatable conversation!" He clicked his tongue and pointed a marker, which he had stolen from the board at the front of the room, where he was currently stationed, at her.

Dekka considered continuing the argument, but she had a rather nasty feeling that a comeback war with this boy would not go in her favor. Besides, he was the only kid in the class that she knew anything about, and he wasn't a bad person to be around, judging from first period, that is.

"Travis!" A booming voice caused the chatter to die to immediate silence, as everyone's head whipped in the direction of the door, where a large, broad-shouldered man stood, his eyes flashing dangerously at Noah, who was seemingly unphased.

"Hello," he grinned, not moving his hand, which was grasping the marker, pressing it against the board creating another of what must have been his poorly-done doodles.

"What do you think you're doing?" The man snapped at the boy, who's grin never faltered.

"I just thought your room could use a little livening up, is all." Noah shrugged. "Why? Do you not like it?" He gestured to the board.

"Don't touch my board!" The man snarled, yanking the marker away from the boy. "Go sit down!"

Noah turned and headed for the seat in front of Dekka, snickering the whole way while Coach Nershall grumbled about insubordination as he cleared the doodles away.

When he was done, he slammed the board cleaner back onto his desk and glared at the class, most of whom were holding back laughter. "This is not amusing!"

"That, my friend, is a matter of opinion," Noah commented in a voice strained from trying not to laugh himself.

Coach Nershall jabbed a finger in his direction, snapping in a not-so-calm voice, "Shut up!"

The boy gave his head such an abrupt nod that Dekka wondered how he didn't end up with whiplash, and replied, in a very military-like tone, "Yes sir!"

For a split second, Dekka was sure the teacher was going to clear all of the desks between himself and Noah, and lay the boy out, but the next next second he had gotten his face back into a semi-composed expression, and said, in a voice wavering between calm and utter insanity. "One more word out of you, Travis, and I swear..." And there he let the threat hand, having its desired effect on most of the room, as every student turned, with wide eyes, to look at Noah, bu the boy, who the threat was actually intended to intimidate, seemed unphashed, and he didn't miss a beat.

He drew a line across his lips with his thumb and forefinger, and mimed turning a key in a lock at the corner of his mouth, then, as though purely for the purpose of seeing how far he could push the teacher, he reached over the back of his seat, and pretended to drop his invisible key onto Dekka's desk.

Dekka felt frustration well up at him dragging her into the conflict, which was only made worse when she moved her hand over the place that the key, had it been real, would have landed. She clenched her fist and had to bite her lip to stop herself from saying something she may regret in the face of the teacher watching them carefully. It was bad enough that he was risking his own life by testing this man's temper, but why was he bringing her into it?

"Come on, Noah, leave the puppy alone" a girl that Dekka recognized vaguely from Biology, sighed.

Oh yeah, that's why.

"Yeah!" A blond boy in the seat beside Dekka's put in. "Mess with Christie! That's tons more fun!"

The girl huffed, sending dusty colored curl floating lazily into the air. "Have you ever been stabbed with a pen before Nick?"

"No," the boy replied, "but it sounds like I would hurt."

"Wanna find out?" Christie offered, wielding her small, purple pen threateningly. "Then keep on talking about me."

"Would all of you just shut up!" The coach's boom brought the class back to silence. He let out an irritated breath. "Okay! As you've probably noticed, there is a book on your desk, that is your book, and will be your responsibility for the rest of the year, so I suggest you keep up with it. Open it up and write your name on the inside cover, then wait for further instructions, but no side conversations while you wait."

Dekka moved to do as instructed, but was interrupted by a piece of paper being slipped onto her book. She paused and glanced at Noah, who was turned back around. She considered ignoring the paper, but curiosity go the best of her, so she unfolded it.

_ You were supposed to laugh, not look like I kicked you dog or something. _

Dekka looked up and found that Noah had turned his head, and, judging by the glint in her pale green eyes, he was smiling. She gave him her most intimidating glare, and crumpled the paper in her hand.

Noah turned back around, so Dekka opened her book and began putting in her name, sure that he was done, until she was presented with a new note.

_Nice try, but you don't scare me. Compared to some of the things I've seen, you're like...a fluffy bunny. _

Dekka came very close to giving a derisive laugh. Whatever he had seen couldn't even come close to the things she had. Had he seen bugs eating him form the inside out? Had he seen kids eaten by coyotes? Had he seen a girl's head smashed by a giant cement block of heard the screams of children burning alive? Had he seen the heart of the girl he loved burned away?

But she held back. She was trying to put those awful memories behind her, and she couldn't do that if she was using it as ammo.

So instead, she stood, giving him a pointed glare, and threw the papers away. She was sure he would get the message this time, positive he would leave her alone. She was proven wrong, however, when she arrived back at her desk to find a third note.

_I've been told my head is as thick as my grin is wide. It'll take a little more than that to get me to back off. _

Dekka was quickly growing tired of this and stared up at Noah, who was smiling in the stangest way. A mischievous innocent air about it that made disliking him like she wanting to do, very difficult.

So she scribbled back a note, hoping that humoring him would provide a better outcome.

_What exactly is it you want?_

_ How about a smile?_

Dekka shook her head. She wasn't that kind of person who smiled just because she was asked too. Noah didn't look away. She sighed and glanced around, half-hoping for someone to come to her rescue, but no one seemed to be paying them any mind. She looked back to Noah, and game her haed another shake.

He didn't budge.

"Talent?"

"What?" Dekka looked to the coach, who raised an eyebrow.

"Are you here?"

Dekka considered making her own sarcastic comment to match his, but thought better of it. "Yes."

"Travis."

"Present."

"Unfortunately."

The students around snickered, but Noah seemed far from caring.

The teacher finished calling roll, then launched into a long spill about his rules, and expectation, and other things. The man made several obscene references, even going as far as labeling himself the _dick-_tator of the class room.

Needless to say, Dekka was move than relieved when the bell rang, announcing that her time stuck in the room with the, clearly, half-insane man was over.

Noah stood, slinging his back pack onto his shoulder. He stood in front her desk patiently as she grabbed her bag and checked her schedule. She glanced up at him. "What are you doing?"

Noah shrugged. "Just waiting. Is that wrong?"

Only one person had ever stood, staring expectantly at her like that, having decided to leave only when she was as well.

But she was dead.

"Why?"

Noah laughed. "Are you naturally this intrusting or do is it just me?"

"I don't even know you."

Noah smirked, and gave a taunting bow. "Noah Travis. My dad is the chief of police at the Charleston Police Department. I have two older, Kris and Hunter, who have both are graduates of Headline Academy. One is a music major at UCA and the other owns a martial arts dojo in Charleston. My mother died when I was nine, along with my baby sister. I play trumpet in the Headline marching and concert bands. My favorite pass time is making people laugh, and I have this nifty little talent at imitating noises and voices I hear. It's freaky, but usually people are to busy laughing to notice how freaky it really is. There. Is that enough for you to trust me?"

Dekka sighed. "Well, if you're so set on hanging around, then how about you make yourself useful? Do you know how to get to Mrs. Lee's class?"

"This is my eleventh year at this school, I know how to get everywhere." He turns and begins to walk towards the door. Dekka let out a breath, and wondered how she'd ended up in this mess. Yes, it was a mess, because she was trying to be angry at her parents for abandoning her again. She was trying to miss Brianna, and hate herself for letting her get killed, even though a logical part of her brain told her there was nothing she could have done. She was trying to be the same gloomy Dekka that no one talked to or messed with, and instead Noah was trying to be her friend, and making it very difficult to find a reason not to be. Lauren, too, with her welcoming air that made Dekka want to completely open up to her despite the fact that she knew nothing about her.

Mrs. Lee was was two doors down a across the hall. At least _that _was easy to remember.

Noah stuck around, and it turned out that it was his class, too, as well as Lauren, Lilah, Christie, and a boy that Dekka had recognized as Nick, from their fifth period class, but, as it turned out, his name was Austin, and Nicolas was his twin brother, which made Dekka feel slightly stupid.

Mrs. Lee was a plump, wispy haired woman, that started class by introducing herself and sharin a story about going to a workshop for teaching that summer, and finding out that sarcasm was actually considered a form of bullying. She laughed and told them that she had been a smart allec for forty-eight, so it was far to late for her to fix that, so they would just have to deal with her bullying. This produced a small wave of laughter, and the perfect opportunity for Noah to start his favorite pass time. Mrs. Lee handled him far better than Coach Nershall had, and their casual banter speckled the class period, providing a very entertaining class, that fact, even Dekka couldn't deny. Well, she could, and did outwardly, because if Noah was going to insist on harassing her until he got a laugh, she was at least going to make him work for it.

After she was done sharing her sarcasm story, she hung up a poster, that read in large letters, **Don't Be Stupid. **This lead to her sharing stories of stupid things she had seen kids do in the past, and that had lead up to this phrase becoming her motto.

When the class was over, Lauren looked at Dekk'a schedule and raised an eyebrow. "You're in band?"

"What?" Dekka frowned, then remembered the day she and her parents had sat with the counselor working out a schedule for her. She remember answering no to the questions of: "Do you play an instrument?" "Do you like art?" "Do you sing?" The counsilor had then proceeded to tell her that if she wasn't going to be a member of one of the programs, than she would have to be what was called a helper, which translated to someone who sat in the class, and helped out when it was needed and what not. She remembered telling the woman that she wasn't partial to art or choir or band or the media center, so she didn't care where they put her. The woman had said that the band had lost their only helper last year, when she graduated, and asked for permission to put her there, because apparantly she couldn't do so without permission. Dekka had nodded, whatever.

"I'm a helper...I think that's what she called it."

"Oh," Lauren cocked her head and smiled. "Cool. We were expecting to be helperless this year, with Kimberly graduating last year and all."

"We?"

"The band," Lauren answered. "Mr. Burkly's couldn't get back today, so we don't have to go to seventh period. I mean, we have to go back to the dorm building, since they won't let us just wander around the school while class is going on, but we don't have to do go to the band room." She frowned thoughtfully. "That's bad word choice. I would choose going to the band room over going back to the rooms, but we can't, because Mr. Burkly has the keys to the band room, so they can't open it."

So they went back to the dorm building. There were two, one was for the guys and the other for the girls. The girls' dorm building entered first into a large lobby, which brached off into the hallways that lead to the dorms by way of staircases and elevators. The dorms were set up in a large box shape around a courtyard that put the already large lobby to shame. Lined it a low wall that had bushes growing over behind, and over the top of it. It was littered with benches and picnic tables, and randomly placed trees.

A large group of students congregated to the lobby of the girls' dorm building, boys and girls alike. Dekka assumed they were all band students, and found that she recognized many of them. Her entire first period class was there, for example, which she learned was not a coincidence. Mentoring classes were set up to include only kids from the same programs. Lauren had laughed at herself when she explained this, claiming that she now felt stupid for not realizing before that Dekka was a member of the band. Dekka had tried to object to that, she didn't play an instrument, but Lauren waved her off, saying, "You travel with us, help us load the trailer, sit in class with us. You're a member."

Soon after the bell rang for seventh period to start, Dekka realized someone was beating on something. She frowned. "What is that?"

A series of whoops the crowd, and Chris called, "Go, Beat!"

Lauren grinned and looked at Dekka. "His name is Alexander, but everyone calls him Beat, because he's the best percussionist at Headline. He can recreate any rhythm he hears."

Soon after Beat started, manh other kids began beating out rhythms, including Shaena, that fit perfectly with this rhythm to create an interesting cadence. Then, suddenly, a long note rang through the lobby, and they looked to see Jasamin standing atop a table, a saxaphone pressed to her lips as she blew out a series of notes to match the beating of what could only be the percussionist. That started a chain, kids began leaving and returning with their own instruments, fitting themselves into the mix. As more joined in, Dekka realized what they were playing. It was the Spider-man theme song, and Dekka almost laughed as she was reminded of the spider-man head that Toto the truth teller had talked too. Toto had been annoying, true, but the sheer innocence that he had carried with him had been almost comical in the midst of the anything-but-innocence of the FAYZ.

The song shifted, and soon Dekka realized that they were playing movie themes from Marvel movies. She smiled, because it was nice to think of them as simply movies with theme songs, and not actual events. She was no longer in the FAYZ. People no longer had creepy powers like canceling gravity, or shooting light from her hands, or super speed. That was movie stuff. They were just guys in tights with cool theme songs.

Then they stopped, all at once, silence filled the room, like the moment when the hero dies and no one knows quite what to do, or say, because the hero doesn't die!

But the hero did die. The FAYZ wasn't just some movie that she watched on cable. It was real. She could really cancel gravity, and Brianna was really a small thriteen-year-old with the power to run at super speed, and take on any fight even if the chances of victory were slim to none.

And there really was a green, killing light that had flashed and burned a hole straight through Brianna.

Dekka felt the unwanted tears coming, and knew she had to escape. Get away from the cheerful voices and laughs as the kids joke about their spontaneous break into song that usually only happened in movies. Yeah, sometimes movies get some details right. They just never get the part where a hero dies.

"Are you okay?" Lauren called as she turned to go, a look of concern etched into her features.

"Yeah, I'm just going to go back to the room," Dekka answered, fighting to keep her voice level.

"You want company?" Lauren wondered, moving to get up off of the chair she was in. Dekka shook her head quickly.

"No! It's fine. I need to be alone anyways."

"Okay," Lauren replied uncertainly, biting her lip.

So Dekka went to the room, and got rid of the tears she couldn't hold back, then forced the tears she could away. She didn't go back downstairs, just lied on her bed and fought away memories that would bring more tears.

She figured she had missed dinner after a while, and remembered Lauren telling her she had free reign over the refrigerator, but she didn't go get anything. She couldn't eat when Brianna was haunting her like this.

Eventually, Lauren came through the door. She was no longer wearing her uniform, instead she was in a pair of shorts and a tank top. Dekka wondered distantly where she had changed, but quickly lost focus on that matter when she saw Lauren's eyes dart to the window, which she had left untouched. A look of relief flashed across Lauren's face, so fast that Dekka questioned even seeing it.

She crossed the room and collapsed on her bed, stomach first, slipping her arms underneath her pillow. Dekka, who was lying on her bed, fully clothed, staring at the ceiling, heard her release a long breath of air.

"Therapists make it seem like if you just talk to them, and tell them everything you feel, that it'll all get better. What they don't tell you is that talking about our problems doesn't make the memories go away. The things that change as a result, don't just magically go back to normal just because you tell someone about it. All you can do is adjust." Dekka heard the girl shift on her bed, but didn't turn to see. "I'm a good listener, if you just want to talk, but I get a feeling you're not the kind of person who just tells all her problems to anyone, so, if there's anything else I can do, to help you adjust, then tell me."

Dekka considered the offer a moment, then, at last, she spoke, "I need light."

"Excuse me?"

Dekka sighed, now regretting even saying anything, because it was stupid, but it was also true. So she turned onto her side, propping herself up on her elbow, and faced Lauren. "I need some sort of light. Total darkness messes with my head too much. Usually the moon or stars are enough that it doesn't bother me, but..."

She refrained from nodding to the window, still covered in the black fabric.

Lauren nodded, understanding, then climbed out of bed and dropped to her knees, digging around under it a moment. She came back up with what Dekka quickly recognized as a large lava lamp. Lauren stood, saying, "My last room mate collected these, and when she transferred rooms, she gave this to me as a sort of 'Sorry I'm totally abandoning you and all gift." She plugged the thing up, and set it on the bookshelf, then look to Dekka, who was watching with raised eyebrows. "Better?"

Dekka nodded. "Yeah."

Lauren smiled and reached over her night stand, flicking off the switch above it. The room when dark, save the light from the lamp, that glowed an eerie green, like the light from a Sammy Sun. Dekka winced, and was relieved when the color changed to red.

She saw Lauren's dark outline crawl back into bed, and her curiosity began to kick in. "What happened to you?"

"What?"

"You said earlier today, that you spent a lot of time in the ICU, then, just now, you sounded a lot like someone who knows those things from personal experience."

She heard Lauren laugh. "Just a plane crash, is all." She answered, nonchalantly. "I'm sure whatever happened to you in your FAYZ thing beats my bad experiences by a long shot."

Silence filled the air, and Dekka was glad it was dark, so that Lauren couldn't see her smile. Who brushed a plane crash off as no big deal, even in the face of the things Dekka had been through? The sheer insanity of it made her want to laugh.

"Hey, Dekka..." She heard Lauren's voice drift from the other side of the room. "Thanks...you know, for not taking the window cover down and all."

**So yeah. This chapter had a lot of development going on! Which is good..I personally like development. **

**Sooo, because my brother insisted that it was hard to tell, I'm going to ahead and give a little pronunciation tutorial...**

**Shaena is pronounced Shay-na. And later, when we meet her sister, it's pronounced Shay-la**

**Jasamin. I know that is usually spelled with an e, but I dropped the e, on purpose. Don't worry! ^.^**

** Okay, question time! 5 pts for each question you answer...**

**1. What was your favorite scene?**

**2. Is there anything you would like to see more of?**

**AND my challenge! 10 pts for the first correct answer, 5 for the ones after, and three for effort!**

**Who is the fifth and final GAP girl? It is one of the girls we have already met, other wise I couldn't use this as a challenge! **

**Hope you enjoyed, thanks for reading, and don't forget to review! XD**


	4. To Make a Stubborn Girl Laugh

**Hey! So! Thanks once again to my awesome reviewers!**

**Breeze xxx: 88 points!**

**CrazyKitten2112: 88 Points! **

**Jennifer Adams: 30 points!**

**I also have a guest reviewer, who is awesome, but as I said before, I can't exactly keep a fair track with that so...**

**I own nothing except the things that I do own, adn you know what those are already, so.. Enjoy!**

_To Make a Stubborn Girl Laugh_

The band teacher didn't return at all that week. Lauren explained that he was on a vacation that had been post-poned because of weather. So every day they returned to the dorm building after sixth period, and the kids would hang out in the lobby, and practice the marvel medley, which Dekka learned was their show for football season. The music still brought forth unwanted memories, but Dekka managed to get them under control enough that, by the end of the week, she was able to sit in the lobby all night, listening to the them talk in a completely different language. Once Chris, Julie, and Jessie, along with other girls bearing the long, thin flutes, frowned at each other after the song was over, and after a few moments of silence, Chris burst into laughter, which sent the rest into a spiral of laughter as well, as a tall, bushy-haired girl named Brooklyn called, "All naturals! No sharps or flats!"

Another time, Lauren and Noah played a note together, and Lauren frowned saying, "You should pull your tuning slide out, you sound sharp."

One time, a girl wielding a trombone waved them all to silence right in the middle of a song, and glared at the group of boys holding a spiraled instrument that Lauren called a French horn, and shouted, "French horns are taking that _way _too fast! It's not a race you morons, it's a ritardando!"

And it never stopped, but Dekka found herself growing used to it.

She also quickly grew used to the other students who had begun to hang around her constantly, like she had seen groups of friends at school do before, but she had never been a part of those crowds. She was always a loner, and she liked it that way, it meant she didn't have to really worry about anyone else. Then she had bet Brianna, and she her reluctance to grow close to anyone grew to a new level. She had resolved to keeping to herself at her new school, not getting close to anyone because you never know, maybe a new FAYZ wall would come up, and she would fall in love with a brave, arrogant girl who would get killed because she couldn't do as she was told.

But she hadn't been counting on the power of the Headline kids. Chris, Shaena, Noah, and, especially Lauren, weren't allowing shutting the rest of the world out to be an option, and, much to her displeasure, she had grown fond of their company. They all provided distractions from her own mind, in their own ways. Others did as well. Lilah, for example, chattered non-stop whenever she was around, and listening to her talk non-sense allowed Dekka to forget about death, and strawberry-haired girl with super speed.

She avoided the twins at all costs. Weston and Weslie were very difficult to be around, especially Weston, who was the perfect embodiment of everything Brianna had been.

However, the girls managed to pin her Saturday night. She had made her way down to the vending machines, agreeing absently to returning with something for Lauren to eat, and was fighting the machine to take the crumpled dollar from her.

"You're a hard person to pin, you know that, Talent?"

Dekka jumped, and spun around, hands raising instinctively, as though she was going to make the intruder float into the air. She was looking at Brianna-no _Weston_- Brianna was dead. The small girl was standing in the gate that lead into the small community of vending machines. Dekka sighed, hoping that seeming irritated would make the girl leave, because she definitely didn't want to face her. "You alone?"

"Why does that matter?" Weston huffed. "You're alone."

"Yeah, well I'm also sixteen, and have been told I'm rather intimidating, which puts me at a lower risk for being kidnapped."

Weston rolled her eyes. "So, what? You think just because I travel in a pack some creepy child molester's going to leave me alone?"

Dekka blinked. "Do you even know what a child molester is?"

"Of course I do," Weston replied, rolling her eyes, a motion so similar to Brianna that Dekka almost stopped breathing. "I wouldn't have said it if I didn't. Do _you _know what it is?"

"You're very snappy, aren't you?"

"I learned from the best," Weston grinned fondly. "Brianna always said that sarcasm was our natural defense against stupidity, so embrace it."

Dekka went stiff at the mention of Brianna, hand clenching tightly, crumpling the money. She cursed mentally, glancing a Weston and hoping the little girl hadn't seen it, but, judging from her face, she had. Her expression was Brianna's, knowing that she was something to Dekka, even in she didn't understand why. A knowing ignorance that only Brianna had been able to make natural, and beautiful, and Weston wore it perfectly.

"How much do you know, exactly?"

"You'll have to be a bit more specific," she sings, mischief written all over her face.

"About your sister and I... I mean, it's obvious you know something."

"Am I that transparent?" She grins, teasingly, stepping forward as the machine rejects Dekka's money again. "Here," she says, taking the bill, and flattening it on her leg. She was dressed in what could only be night cloths. A pair of flannel, red pants and an old-shirt that was multiple sizes. Across its front was the emblem of Coates Academy, and the faded letters were the title of the fundraiser the school had held the spring before the FAYZ wall went up, all of the students had received one. Dekka remembered the day they came in. Brianna had been seated in her usual spot atop one of the tables, despite constant objections from the staff, complaining loudly about how big her shirt was. She remembered glancing up, and having to suppress a smile, because it was too-big. It swallowed her so effectively that it was almost as though her entire midriff had simply disappeared, and the shirt hung limply off of one shoulder, despite the number of times she repositioned it. Dekka remembered thinking that the shirt could fit herself. So, on this girl, significantly smaller then Brianna had been at the time, it wasn't comical, it looked plain ridiculous. She had tried to make up for the size difference by wading up the excess material and wrapping it with a ponytail holder. It didn't help much, the shirt still had the puffed look of a shirt that was to big, and one side still hung off of her shoulder so badly that she was wearing a tank-top underneath because, otherwise, people would see a lot more than her shoulder, although it wasn't like her six-year-old body really had anything to hide, plus, on top of it all, now she had a giant ball of material sticking off to the side.

"This thing is extremely picky, it won't take your money if it's not perfect," Weston goes on, dragging Dekka out of her thoughts. She shoves the dollar into the machine, and it glows, informing them that they should select an item. Weston smiled proudly. "See?"

For a second, Weston was Brianna, smiling proudly down at Drake's severed head, cursing in his sucking, shallow voice, and Dekka had to remind herself of the difference. Weston was almost eight years younger than Brianna had been. Weston had never had super speed, Weston was still alive, and she had never chopped a person into pieces and brought back the still speaking head as a trophy. She was a little girl who was proud of making a machine work. She'd probably never even thought of chopping anyone up into pieces.

"Thanks, and yeah, you kind of are."

Weston pouted. "Well, that's no fun."

"How about a trade? I'll tell you one thing you want to know abut your sister, and you'll tell me one thing I want to know."

"What if I want to know more than one thing?"

Dekka smiled. "One question at a time."

"Okay, what if what I want to know is about you?"

This took Dekka by surprise. "What do you want to know about me?"

Weston ran a hand through her hair, which had been taken down from its braids. "You cared about my sister, that much I know from the memorial." Dekka realized them that her discomfort was not because of the question itself, if was the context. She was willing to bet that the memorial wasn't any more fun for her then it had been for Dekka herself. "Anyways, I thought it was because she was just Brianna, I mean, everyone loved Brianna...except for my dad, I guess..." She trailed off, then started up again, "but, since you've been here at the school, I've been wondering if maybe it was more than that. Maybe it wasn't just a friendly love..."

There was a long moment of silence, in which time Weston stared at Dekka curiously. Dekka then realized the one major character difference between Weston and Brianna, Weston's look had not been knowing ignorance, it was pure knowing. Weston, at six, had the perception skills to put together in a week what Brianna would never have known if Dekka hadn't told her. Weston, who probably didn't even fully understand love, figured out something Brianna hadn't the observation skills to herself.

"You're too smart for your own good," Dekka sighed, not meeting Weston's gaze as she collected the food from the machine.

Dekka barely caught the smile out of the corner of her eye. "Well, I can't exactly take all the credit, Weslie helped. She's a lot smarter than I am. Better at puzzles and stuff, you know?"

"So I'm a puzzle?"

"Yeah, you are. I mean, the only choice people have in order to learn anything about you is trying to fit together the puzzle pieces, you don't exactly share much." Weston was talking in the matter of fact tone that Brianna had used when arguing about whether she was going to fight or not, and she crossed her arms in the same stubborn manner.

"Not much to share."

"Well, I think being a GAP girl is a pretty significant detail, considering you hang out with them, and are room mates with one-"

"The only way any of that becomes significant is if I plan on dating, which I don't."

"Why not?" Weston pressed, twisting the shirt around in her fist. Dekka sighed exasperatedly, but before she had a chance to answer, Weston had continued, "and if you say because of Brianna I might just hit you." The look on her face told Dekka she was all too serious, and, while Dekka didn' think she could actually do much damage, she didn't have the heart to pick a fight with a girl so much like Brianna.

So instead she said, "Why?"

"Because that's not fair to me."

"Excuse me."

Weston sighed and slumped to the ground, back to the vending machine. "Do you have a sister?" Dekka shook her head, and Weston nodded. "I didn't think so. Brianna was my world. She was the person I wanted to be when I grew up, my hero. She was the girl that let me crawl into her bed when I had nightmares and snuck a jar of peanut butter upstairs every time she was home so we could eat it while we watched her favorite movies." Weston smiled fondly. "Brianna was the big sister everyone wants, and I only to three months out of the year with her because my of my dad, and the only thing I have left of her are the scraps of memories that my mind managed to retain, I was only four when I lost her. Sure, she was alive for a year after that, but I didn't get her. I lost her the moment that wall came up." Dekka looked away, knowing in her heart what was coming. "You got a whole year with her that I didn't get, and a brain that is capable of retaining those memories you made."

And also, knew that she was absolutely right.

"People think that just because I'm six I don't understand, but you'd be surprised how much you pick up on when major things like this happen."

Dekka slid down beside her, and thumped her head against the machine, unable to form words, even though she wanted to break the silence that had stretched between them, now that Weston had said all that she needed to. Finally: "Okay..."

"Okay?"

Dekka nodded. "You're right...but not now. You've had a ear to accept what is gone that I haven't, so, in all fairness, I deserve a little more time to grieve."

"Fair." Weston nodded. She held out her left hand, and Dekka looked at it. "You'll try to move on from my sister when you're ready; shake on it."

"Aren't you supposed to seal a deal with your right hand?"

Weston smiled. "Brianna always said that, since everyone set deals with their right hand, doing it with your left made it a special one."

So many things to learn about Brianna from this girl, like the fact that she sealed deals with her left hand because that was "special".

So she shook her hand.

After that night, Dekka realized she was not longer going to be allowed to avoid Brianna's sisters. They simply weren't going to allow it. Weston was every bit as stubborn as Brianna had been, and Weslie wasn't far behind, although, hers was more subtle, and seemed to be very rarely shown. In fact, Dekka never would have known, if not for Christmas Break, but that's a different part of our story that we will visit at a later date.

Weston dragged Weslie over to where Dekka was seated in the lobby, accompanied by Lauren, Noah, and the Dark and Twisties, and introduced her. Weston's bold, loud personality conflicted so significantly with her sister's quiet, laid back, almost shy personality that Weston, obviously used to Weslie doing whatever she says, could come off as bossy and obnoxious, draggin Weslie around behind her like a curious parody of a doll.

Dekka, however, found them oddly likable. She had thought, at first, that it was merely because they were a connection to Brianna. Weston's almost identical personality, didn't have as much of a bad effect as she had been afraid it would, it sort of made her feel better, like she had a small part of Brianna back. However, she quickly discovered that it wasn't simply their relationship to the girl she had, no _did _love, many people at the school said that the twins had an undeniable likability to them.

Dekka also learned fairly quickly, that home life here at Headline was an almost unspoken of subject, which was fine with her, since the last thing she wanted to talk about was her parents, or the FAYZ, but still it was odd. Instead of threatening to call parents, like normal teachers would, the teachers at Headline threatened to talk to other teachers. The athletic coaches, or the band and art teachers, or other various teachers around the school. A particular favorite, was Mrs. Monk.

When Dekka asked Lauren about this, it had made the girl grin. "Mrs. Monk is, like, one of the most respected teachers in the school. Everyone knows not to mess with her. She had, like, five kids worth of practice." Then she had laughed. "Plus, she's a Duke, and nobody wants to mess with the Duke clan." The "Duke clan", she had proceeded to explain, consisted, originally, or four siblings, three sons, and a daughter. The middle sons died in a car accident when they were teenagers, which left the oldest son, and the youngest child, Mrs. Monk, she had five daughters. Heaven, whom Dekka knew from mentoring, but only barely, since she didn't spend quite as much time around Lauren as Julie, or the Dark and Twisties, or some of the others. Three of the other girls also went to the school, and when Lauren had pointed them out, Dekka had definitely seen the resemblance between the girls, but they didn't take much after their mother. All four had pale blond hair, and fair skin, and bright blue eyes. They were built small, with big eyes, and small noses and ears, that made the eyes even more exaggerated. On the other hand, Mrs. Monk was tall, and slightly stout, with dark hair and eyes, and darkly tanned skin.

Dekka had, however, seen the resemblance when Lauren had told her that the oldest son had four children himself, a son and three daughters, and had proceeded to tell her that the youngest was Julie Duke herself. Julie could have been a copy of her aunt, execpt her lack of the height, which Lauren had shrugged at, saying that her sister, Allie Jai, lacked it as well.

She had pointed the second youngest sister out the next day, and Dekka had to agree, Allie Jai was definitely missing the height, other than that, however, she seemed to carry most of the Duke traits, except for her bright blue eyes. Dekka couldn't help pointing it out, and Lauren had smiled. "Well, you didn't think the Monk girls go their eyes from their dad did you?"

Headline academy was such a different environment than most schools, that Dekka wondered if it was all a dream. Maybe she would wake up and be stuck at some other, dingy school, with blank faced teacher that droned on and on. Sure, Headline had those, but it also had some teachers that Dekka found she was rather fond of, another new experience to add to the growing list. Mrs. Monk, for example, who had practically raised many of her students, since you keep the same mentoring teacher your entire time at Headline, and often reminded them of it. Dekka had almost laughed the first time she pointed a finger at Noah, and said, "Hey! Behave! Didn't I raise you better?"

Noah continued in his attempts to make Dekka laughed, or, the every least, crack a smile, and resisting grew more and more difficult every day. Especially once she began using the voices. As it turned out, when he said he could mimic almost any voice or sound heard, he hadn't been exaggerating. He could make it voice high and squeaky, like a chipmunk, or low and grumbling, very similar to the typical voice of a giant, or ogre, from movies. He could do a scarily accurate impression of the school bell, which he loved to do in class, to throw off Coach Nershall, and an even better impersonation of the intercom, and the woman at the front desk who came over the intercom to make announcements, another of his favorite tricks for 5th period.

Then, Monday, the band teacher returned and made not laughing impossible.

The band room, or building more like, was set in the very back of the campus and, and was almost as big as the dorm buildings, making it the third largest building on campus. The large, wooded double doors lead into a long hallway that Lauren claimed stretched around the entire perimeter of the building. One o the walls was lined with lockers, ranging in size from small and boxlike, barely big enough to stick an arm in, to large enough for two people to stand up straight in, and still have elbow room. The other wall was lined with backpacks, stacks of textbooks and binders, and instrument cases, some flipped open, other slammed shut with one latch closed while the other still hung uselessly. Lauren and Noah made heir way down the hallway, to a corner, where a table had been set up.

Lauren slung her bag up onto the table, and seated herself on it as well, pullin a bag of cheerios from the depths of the bag. "Do you ever stop eating?" Dekka wondered, leaning against the wall. She'd known Lauren for a week, and in that time she had yet to see Lauren at a time where she didn't have food on her somewhere, and she ate constantly. Dekka wondered if the teachers were aware that she ate in class, and simply had decided that trying to stop her was futile, or if they were simply that oblivious. She figured the first option was more realistic.

Whatever the case, however, Dekka couldn't complain too much, Lauren shared, so Dekka would never have to worry about going hungry. "Sure, when I sleep," she replied, grinning and holding the bag out to Dekka. She shook her head, but the other girl didn't move, except to raise an eyebrow. Dekka had learned Lauren always carried food, and Lauren, in turn, had learned that it was extremely difficult for Dekka to turn down food. If she held it out long enough, the other girl's resolve would crumble.

Dekka sighed, and took a handful. Lauren smiled triumphantly, and offered the bag to Noah, who didn't hesitate. "So." Lauren swung her feet casually, tugging her Biology book onto her lap and flopping it open. "Test Friday, want help with the review sheet anyone?"

"I'll take you up on that offer," Lilah commented, joining them.

Noah frowned. "Hey! You're not in this class. What are you doing here?"

Lilah shrugged. "Mr. B's NIA so we got out of 7th period today."

Lauren rolled her eyes as Noah argued teasingly. "So? Band was out all last week, but you didn't find us stealing oxygen in the Art room, did you?"

"That's an interesting way to describe it," Lilah laughed, dark eyes gleaming.

Noah shrugged. "It's the truth, though."

"How so?"

Noah opened his mouth to retort, but was interrupted. "What are you doing here?"

Lilah jumped, and Dekka swung around to face the new voice. It was a short man, wearing a pressed, light blue shirt and khaki pants. He came to a stop between Dekka and Lilah, looking at the dark haired girl. He pushed his glasses up his nose subconsciously, and crossed his arms over her chest, staring expectantly at her.

"Hey! What's up other Mr. B?" Lilah grinned, holding up a hand as thought to accept a high-five, although that didn't come.

"I don't remember you enrolling in band."

"That would because I didn't," Lilah replied.

"Then why are you stealing oxygen in my band hallway?"

Noah let out a cackle and pointed a finder at Lilah. "See?"

Lilah huffed, and crossed her arms over her chest. "All I _see _is that you have a habit of stealing other people's expressions."

Noah shrugged. "It's a good expression."

"Bye," the man said pointedly, waving at Lilah.

Lilah mimicked Noah's motion, then gave a mock salute and said, "I'm off!"

Once she had disappeared, the man turned to Dekka. "And you?"

Dekka blinked. "Me?"

"I don't remember you from summer band," he explained, pivoting on his toes, as though this was going to make up for the significant height difference. It didn't exactly work.

"That's because she's new," Lauren interrupted when Dekka didn't respond, not even looking up from her biology book.

"She's a helper," Noah added, leaning casually against the table.

"Really?" The man looked at Dekka for confirmation. She nodded. "Well, that's exellent. We appreciate all the help we can get around here. I'm Mr. Burkly." He held out a hand, but Dekka didn't move to shake it, so he went on. "What's your name?"

"Dekka."

"Nice to meet you Dekka."

"Are we playing today?" Lauren wondered after a short pause signaled the end of the conversation.

Mr. Burkly shook his head. "Not you anyways. Only people who haven't passed off their music." Then, as though on a side note he added. "You can't hand out in the hallway, though. You have to come into the lobby, at least, so I can monitor."

"You don't trust me?" Lauren pouted.

"I trust you about as far as I can throw you," he replied matter-of-factly. "And I trust Dark and Twisty even less. No telling what kind of trouble _they'll _get into on their own."

"They'll 'accidentally', lock Andrew in the band locker again," Noah suggested, and Dekka had to fight her jaw from dropping.

"What?"

Mr. Burkly raised an eyebrow. "You haven't told her about the band locker?"

"No!" Noah gasped, eyes going wide. "But I should have, because I bet I totally could have gotten you to laugh with that story!"

"You can get people to laugh with any story," Mr. Burkly snorted.

"Not _her!" _Noah pouted. "She doesn't laugh at _anything!" _

Lauren smirked knowingly as Dekka, because, how many times had they sat in their room and laughed about how frustrated her lack of laughter was making Noah? Mr. Burkly looked disbelievingly at Dekka, crossing his arms and saying, "You know, I don't actually believe that, and I'll tell you why. I've known Noah since he was barely big enough to keep his hands on the trumpet keys, and I've yet to see him meet someone he couldn't make laugh within the first day."

Dekka shrugged. "You see new things everyday."

The man laughed. "I like that answer!" He grinned happily, and turned to leave. "Seriously though, you should share the locker story."

Dekka wasn't sure if he had done it on purpose, or he just had excellent timing, but he said it as Chris and Shaena themselves were walking past him, heads ducked together as they looked at a note in Shaena's hand. When he said it, both heads shot up, and Chris asked indignantly, "Are you on _that _again?"

The man replied, "Nice to see you, too, Berryhill."

Chris made a face and called back, "Totally didn't answer my question!"

Mr. Burkly didn't reply, just opened a door and disappeared. Chris sighed. "Are we playing today?"

Lauren shook her head. "Nope."

"Well that sucks. I wanted to show off how amazing we sound now..." Chris pouted, putting her flute case down on the table loudly.

"So, why were you talking about the locker?" Sheana wondered, flopping down on the floor, and converting her backpack to a back rest.

Noah shrugged. "He said we couldn't hang out here all period because we may cause trouble, like locking each other in band lockers."

Sheana grinned. "You have to admit, thought, that was funny."

"It was hilarious, and it still is," Noah grinned. "I just wish we'd gotten it on tape, it's much more fun to show then tell."

"Not when you tell it," Chris laughed, popping a cheerio into her mouth.

"That's true."

"So, _are _you going to tell the story?" Dekka wondered, her curiosity growing more and more impatient by the minute.

So Noah proceeded to tell the story. He started, by telling her that last year was when they had begun the GAP tradition, which lead to an amusing story that started with Andrew making a joke about it in first period one day, and continued by the word getting back to Rose, who produced shirts, and various other items for almost everything. When school started back up after winter break, the six, not including Rose of course, GAP kids; Lauren, Chris, Lilah, Jasamin (whom Dekka had learned about halfway through the first week, when Andrew had called her the GAP baby in P.E), Noah, and a boy by the name of Liam, had found peculiar sweatshirts hanging on their doors. Gay And Proud was sported in various designs on he fronts. Needless to say, Rose was the only one who actually found them cute, the rest were rather wary of becoming walking billboards.

In the end, Rose had guilted them into a compromise. She had agreed to take off everything but the first letters, so the sweatshirts read, instead, GAP. To anyone who didn't know any better, it may appear to merely be the brand name, but Headline Academy students were very aware of its true meaning, which, in a way, still made the kids walking billboards, but what else were they going to do? By the end of Noah's tale, Chris was the same shade of red as a tomato, Chris's embarrassment about her girlfriend's hand in the sticking of GAP was evident.

Which lead to the cause of the locker situation. Andrew, who had never stopped getting a kick out of GAP, and especially loved to tease Chris about it, had been doing just that. Shaena, who had even admitted to it, had grown tired of listening to the boy, and watching her friend's face grow it's unhealthy shade of red, so she had silenced him by shoving him roughly into the largest of the bang locker, and sliding in the combination pad lock. She claimed that she hadn't meant for it to lock, but Noah had chosen then to walk in on the fiasco of Andrew yelling indignantly and the Dark and Twisty twins laughing, and had startle Chris, who had leapt accidentally into Shaena, causing her to lurch forward and the lock in her hand to snapped closed.

The best part of the entire situation was, nobody knew the combination to the lock, and the book with the combinations in it was locked up inside Mr. Burkly's office. That left only one option, they needed the key to the pad lock, which was on Mr. Burkly, who was doing a work shop at the local, middle school.

To hear Noah tell it, with his added sound effects and impression, it was extremely entertaining, and it took every ounce of Dekka's will power to hold back the laughter, but her success paid off when he finished telling his story more frustrated then ever at still not succeeding in bring forth laughter.

Lauren suggested, then, that they head on into the band room, so that Mr. Burkly didn't have to come and them. There was only one door in the hallway that lead farther into the building, although there was a large collection of doors that lead in the opposite direction. The door lead into a large lobby, that was decorated with small couches, and chairs, all with a similar, orange color scheme. A large window looked into what could only be Mr. Burkly's office, and hanging on the wall beside it was a large, golden banner that read: "Headline Bee's marching band".

Noah made himself comfortable in one of the chairs, and propped his feet up on one of the tables littering the room. He started a casual conversation that Dekka didn't follow, too busy staring out the other pair of windows in the room that looked out into the band room. It was a large, open space, with dingy, white tile floors. A large, white screen split the room in half, reaching only halfway up to the high ceiling. The walls of the room were strewn with posters and banners, and shelves filled with trophies. Two, long brown tables stretched across the room, with a small desk in a back corner, and a piano was just visible around the edge of the screen. On the other side of the room were a multitude of chairs, set up in a growing arch around a tall podium, and behind it was a large area littered with what appeared to be percussion equipment.

Small groups were scattered around the room, grouped up in the the arch, or at a table, or even standing around the room. A small number were gathered in the lobby, and Dekka saw others coming in and out of the various doors that lined the walls, while other stragglers were still out in the hallway, struggling with lockers, or digging through backpacks.

"You saw that interview then?" Mr. Burkly was talking to Noah through the window, but Dekka was barely paying attention, until:

"Sure I did! It was the best one they did!" Then, in such an accurate impersonation that Dekka almost expected to whip around and see the small boy standing there, Noah pronounced, "True!"

And she laughed. A short laugh, that caused her to clap a hand over her mouth, as thought that would make the sound die and not reach Noah's ears, but it was too late. The boy's head whipped around, a stupid grin plastered on his face. "Ha!"he cried, leaping to his feet and pointing a finger at her. "So you can laugh."

Dekka rolled her eyes and leaned against the wall, crossing her arms. "Of course I can laugh, you dingbat." Vaguely she wondered when she had picked up the name dingbat, which was a Headline favorite.

"Well, do more often, and people may believe that!"

"Maybe I don't want to." Dekka shrugged.

"Well-"

"Hey, Noah!" Lauren interrupted.

"What?"

"Sh!" Noah opened his mouth to retort, but was shushed again, causing him to frown and close it, looking conflicted. Dekka grinned at Lauren, who mirrored it, and leaned back in her chair, rolling her eyes. "Boys, right? Makes me glad I'm not stuck dating them."

"Ouch." Noah winced. "That's an ego bruiser."

Dekka only realized later, that night when she and Lauren were alone in the room, lounging on their beds as they completed their biology review, occasionally calling an answer into the empty air, that Dekka realized Lauren's comment had not been purely for the sake of joking. She had been trying to figure Dekka out, had been trying to figure her out all week, that much Dekka had already realized, but now she had advanced to trying for subtle hints, and making half-prying questions.

"So, I suppose you've got quite the track record with the guys back at home," Lauren commented, flipping absently through her book.

Dekka shook her head, causing Lauren to raise an eyebrow. "Girls, then?" Another shake, and it wasn't untrue Dekka had been sent away to Coates after her first kiss, and that school wasn't exactly teeming with girls like her, besides, Brianna had been there.

"Oh, I see..." Lauren shrugged. "Just not much into the dating scene then?" She seemed as though she was regretting starting the conversation, and Dekka was glad that she wasn't the only one uncomfortable about it. "Me either."

Dekka laughed. "Really? I'd think anyone would jump at a chance with you." Dekka realized what she'd said a second too late. She didn't want to give Lauren the wrong idea. She was still in love with Brianna, and she wasn't ready for a new girl, not yet...maybe not ever.

Lauren didn't seem to read to much into it though, she just shrugged, almost looking like she _really _wanted this conversation to be over. "Guess it's just not my thing."

"Yeah, me too," Dekka nodded.

"What did you get for number sixteen?"

"Haven't found it yet," Dekka replied, relieved that she had found a way to change the subject.

**Okay! So, this chapter was a bit shorter than last chapter, but I didn't feel that there was anything else to add to it. I wanted to go ahead and do the scene with Dekka and Weston, because it felt like the right time, but I didn't feel that any other major development should come with that, so I most just did small development, like introducing the band teacher, and introducing other small aspects of Headline academy life. **

**I'm hoping that you all trust me enough at this point to believe that the last scene does, indeed have a purpose!**

**I know, it didn't feel like the ending was right(or, at least, it didn't to me), but I couldn't think of anything else to add...so yeah.**

**Question time!**

**1. Okay, so the part where I sort of summarized a little bit of the first week. There was a lot of things I wanted to introduce, but, if I tried to write a separate scene for each thing, we would never have gotten any real plot development done, so instead I did the small summary thing. I'm still not sure if that was a wise choice, or if I pulled it off well, so, tell me your thoughts. Was it right? Do you think you know something that could have made it better? 20 pts for answering this!**

**2. Later in the story, I'll touch back on the locker situation, but in your opinions, was the lock closing an accident, or a very well timed trick? 10 points for an answer!**

**Challenge!**

**Who stole the cookie from the cookie jar? Jk! ^.^ I couldn't think of a good challenge for this chapter. **

**I hope you all enjoyed this chapter adn don't forget to review! :D**


	5. Individuality

**Hello my faithful readers! I'd like to thank my guest reviewer, and since I can't do that through a PM, you're getting thanked right here, so YAY!**

**Anyways. **

**Breezexx: 133 pts**

**CrazyKitten2112: 108 pts**

**JenniferAdams: 30 pts**

**Okay, so I'm going to do my talking at the end of the chapter, so...**

**I don't own Gone. Enjoy!**

_Individuality_

_ "And you're sure this is what you want?" Her mother asked again, for possibly the fifth time. The twelve-year-old examined the sketch one more time, smiled at what she saw, and nodded. _

_ Her mother nodded, and waved over a stylist, while her daughter's dark-skinned friend took the sketch and looked at it. "This is going to be epic! And hey! We'll match!" She gestured to her own black hair, which had never had the motivation to grow past the girl's ears. Chris laughed at her friend and said:_

_ "Yeah!"_

_ Her mother, and the hair dresser, came over, the woman asking for Chris's sketch, which she handed over. Her bony mother watched closely as the other woman examined the piece, then raised an eyebrow. "You sure you want this? It seems a little...er...extreme."_

_ Chris nodded again. And grabbed at a piece of soft brown hair. "Cut it off!"_

_ So the woman did. They spent hours honing out the details, and perfecting the look, but by the end of it, Chris figured it was worth it, because the design looked even better than she had imagined it, a fact that Shaena confirmed with a grin. _

_ "It even better than it did on the paper!" _

_ "I know!" Chris raised and hand, which Shaena high-fived._

_ Chris looked to her mother, a wide grin painting her face. The opinion of only two people in the world mattered to her, her best friend's, and her mother's, even though her mother was usually absent, she adored every moment she got with her. _

_ The woman twirled a piece of her thinning ponytail, and nodded. "Definately looks better than I thought it would."_

_ Chris smiled, perfect._

_Individuality_

The first football game was the next Friday night, and the time in between was, and this may have been an understatement, insane. The band was on the football field every day from the beginning of seventh period to almost six-o'clock, working on their show. Dekka spent most of that time lounging on the tall podium that she drum major stood on to conduct, watching them try to position sets and memorize step sizes and other things that she had never realized mattered so much.

She found that listening to the band argue about positioning and sets was even more entertaining then listening to them practice music. Dekka picked up several new names that made her grin. Chris's favorite was calling people a ham, which Shaena, at some point, added "foot", making it footham.

Julie made the mistake of questioning the meaning of footham, which sent Shaena into a long spiel about ham being left out on the streets, and having sewer and garbage dumped on it, and being stepped on by a hobo. When she was done, Julie winced and said, "Sorry I asked."

Shaena's twin sister, Shaela, who had arrived at the school halfway through the second week of school, explaining that she had been at a convention in New York, which Shaena had not objected too, had a talent for comine up with the strangest things to say; for example, once, the trumpet was having a loud argument about the spacing. A curly haired boy, snapped, "I know what the chart says, obviously you don't!"

Noah had snapped back with. "Look here, you, I've been reading these things since before you even knew what marching was!"

The boy made a rather nasty returning comment, and Noah had looked on the verge of swinging.

That was when Shaela had felt the need to exclaim, "Hey! Chill your corn!" Which, in turn, caused the entire band to fall silent.

Then, after the stretched a few moments, Chris broke it with a raucous laugh, pointing at Shaena and proclaiming, "That's your sister!" Shaena had responded by flinging a drumstick at the girl, missing by mere inches.

It all seemed worth it, however, when Thursday before the game rolled around, and the first part of their show was show ready, which, by Headline standards, was near perfection.

Friday, they were given another free day, in which students who had not received band uniforms were fitted.

Chris and Shaena arrived in the band room, both carrying large boxes, and Chris had tied a third to her wrist so she was dragging it along behind her as she went.

"What's that?" Dekka wondered as Chris set hers roughly on the ground.

In response, Chris pulled at the bottom of her black t-shirt, which Dekka wondered how she had missed. Instead of the black sweater and plaid skirt that usually required for school hours, she was wearing jeans and a black t-shirt, decorated with white musical notes, made to look like they were results of the explosion that had been designed into the center of the shirt, underneath the white lettered words, "Headline Academy Marching Band". The most eye catching part of the piece, or at least to Dekka, however, was her name, in golden letter across the shoulders.

"Why is my name on it?" Dekka questioned, only barely registering the rest of the shirt.

"All of our names are on it," Chris answered, slightly irritably. "See?" She took hold of Shaena's shoulder, and spun her around, earning loud protests, which she ignored. On the back was a long list of names in small, golden letters, under headings consisting of each of the individual sections. Chris pointed to her own name, then to Shaena's, and Lauren's, and Noah's, until Dekka threw up her and hands and snapped:

"Okay, okay! I get it!" She then sighed. "Let me rephrase the question: Why is my name on the front?"

"Because you put the most important thing on the front, duh!" Lauren rolled her eyes, sliding off of the table, and moving to examine the shirts closer, while Noah pulled one of the boxes onto the table and it open. A sticker was stuck to the bottom of the lid, reading: "A-D".

"Which box has T's in it?" Noah wondered, pushing the box of shirts off of the table.

Shaena sighed as the box toppled sideways and dumped plastic bags of t-shirts across the floor. "Nice."

Noah shrugged. "I try."

"Oh! Are those the shirts?" Jasamin wondered as she approached. She knelt down and pulled another of the boxes open.

"Sure, just dig in," Chris sighed sarcastically, shrugging her shoulders.

"I will," Jasamin grinned. Sifting through the shirts. She pulled one out and stood. "Found mine."

"So, are you going to answer my question?" Noah asked, absently watching Jasamin tug open the plastic bag that the shirts had been sealed in.

The small girl shook open the shirt as Chris replied, "There's still two more boxes, Rose bullied Dumb and Dumber into carrying the last two down. T's are probably in one of those."

"Well, that sucks," Noah sighed, sliding farther onto the table, and leaning against the wall, propping his feet on the faded brown messenger bag that Julie had left on the table.

As though on cue, Julie came around the corner, swinging her flute case at her side. She stopped, staring at Noah's feet, and threw her hands up exasperatedly, demanding, "Why are your feet on my bag?"

"Why is your bag under my feet?" Noah bordly, crossing his arms, "and why do you have your flute? Burkly said we're not playing."

"Because I can," Julie snapped irritably, shoving his feet off of her bag. "Hey! Are those our shirts?" She dragged her bag off of the table and noticed, for the first time, the spilled box of t-shirts on the floor.

"No, their the Art Club's, we're just storing them here," Chris replied sarcastically.

"Haha, you're _so _funny!" Julie, who had started to look through the bags for her shirt, snapped, throwing one of the shirts at the girl. Chris flinched to the side, and laughed when it bounced harmlessly off of her side. Julie rolled her eyes, popping open a bag and pulling out the shirt. She straightened, unfolding the material, and examining it. A grin worked it's way into her features. "Rose is many things, but it anyone ever tries to claim she's incompetent in the design field, I'll fix their eyes for them."

Shaena nodded in agreement. "Yeah, I'll give her design."

"Shirts!" Jessie squealed, dropping her bag on the floor. "Where's H?"

"There," Jasamin, who was now kneeling on the floor digging through her bag, replied, pointing to the box that she had pulled her own shirt from. As Jessie set to work looking for her shirt, Jasamin stood, pulling a pair of shorts from her bag, and disappeared wordlessly.

"Hey, Jazz," a tall, blond boy called to the closing door, all that was left of the tiny girl at this point. He was carrying a large box in his arms, and trying, at the same time, to balance two shirt bags on top.

"What's up, Austin," Jessie greeted, grinning.

"I'm Austin," the second boy informed, coming to a stop alongside his brother.

Jessie shrugged. "Oh, well, I tried."

"Well," Nich grinned, turning back to them as he set the box down. "Final delivery. Anything you want me to deliver to Her Majesty?"

"You know, just for that, I should make you go back and tell her I said, 'I love you'." Chris teased, giving the older boy a playful shove.

Austin snorted. "Yeah, because _that's _gonna happen."

Chris laughed, then, suddenly, stiffened. It took Dekka a moment to realize that Raylee Becker, the hearingless percussionist, was tanding behind her, one hand pressed to her back, telling her silently not to move. Communicating with Raylee had been a learning experience at first, especially since her side kick refused to translate seventy-five percent of the time on the grounds that she was not Google. Dekka, however had learned fairly quickly that Raylee was very patient as long as you were, and would work with you until she got her message across. Dekka figured she must be killer at charades.

Flanking her was Olivia, her side kick, with her fiery curls pulled back into a high ponytail. On her other side was Daniella, Olivia's niece, with the same fiery hair, although hers had no curl to it, and emerald green eyes, and pale skin. A curious case the Williams family was. Olivia was the youngest of three. Her mother had been very young when she'd had her son, Kyle, and it was an entire nineteen years before they managed to have their second, Rachel. Ten years after that, once Kyle had already married and filled his own household with seven kids their mother announced that she was pregnant again. Many advised her to have an abortion, since a pregnancy so late in life was dangerous to both her and the child, but her values had remained strong, and she had refused to "kill" the baby. When Olivia came, the family's worst nightmare had come to light, there was a complication with the delivery, that had left to her mother's death, and the near death of Olivia herself.

The only reason Dekka knew any of that, was because she couldn't help asking how Olivia had a niece who was a senor, when she was merely eleven. Nick and Austin, who were her nephews, had shared their story. Hen, as though purely for the purpose of seeing her reaction, they had told her that they had four older sisters who had already graduated. When they had laughed at Dekka's look of surprise, Lauren had rolled her eyes and said, "Three of them are a set of triplets."

Daniella had come about only a month after Olivia herself, earning the title as the youngest in a house of ten kids, since Kyle took in Rachel and Olinia after their mother's death, considering their father was in the military, and couldn't be around to care for them.

The girl raised an eyebrow at her brother, asking, "How did they get the two of you to do something helpful?"

Nick shrugged. "Rose is very persuasive."

"Right," Daniella rolled her eyes.

"Hey! You should be nice to me, I dug your shirt out for you!" Nick teased, tossing her one of the shirts on top of his box.

His sister examined it as Raylee and Chris discussed something that Dekka only got Chris's half of. She rolled her eyes. "This is Olivia's, you moron."

"No! We say ham, now!" Chris corrected, a stupid grin plastered across her face.

"You do," Julie responded bordly, from her new-found position cross-legged on the floor, leaned against the wall, with her book flopped open on her lap. "I don't."

"That's because you prefer to use ridiculously long words that show off you extensive vocabulary," Chris pouted.

"'Show off' is a bit of a strong word," Julie argued.

"Sure."

"Here," Dekka jumped in surprise as Noah, who had dragged one of the boxes over to the table and flopped it opened, threw her a shirt back. She looked at the label, and frowned.

"I have one?"

"Jeez, you're full of stupid questions today, aren't you?" Lauren sighed, returning to her seat beside her. "Every member of the band gets a shirt."

"But I'm not a member of the band. I'm just a helper."

"Which makes you the most important member, duh! Without you, we'd spend more time dragging around extra cases, and drum major podiums, and searching for music, then actually working on the show."

Dekka opened her mouth to retort, but came up short, something she was not used to.

They hung around the band room for hours, waiting for time to march onto the field. At some point, pizza was delivered, and they sat around the band set, debating loudly with the group that Andrew had labeled "The Nerds". Well, the rest of the group debated, Dekka just listened, smiling despite herself.

When time finally rolled around for the game, they formed a long, double line down the narrow path that lead through the wall, and forest to the football field, tucked away in the trees. Dekka walked to one side as they marched in, the drums beating a loud cadence, toting along a large cart filled with instruments for the flag guard and drum major, and the few members who doubled as cheerleaders or football players.

Dekka had, several times, noted that the band stand was large, but, actually standing in it and seeing just how well if fit the huge band, with enough room for them to sprawl out if they felt like it and not disturb the people around them, was a completely different story.

Miles, a broad-shouldered member of the Nerds, who carried a mellophone, the marching replacement for a French horn, proved her theory true when he sprawled as far as possible across his area.

Dekka took a seat at the edge of the line of trumpets, beside Lauren, listening absently to Miles and Tanner, another of the horn section, and Raylee's older brother, argue about the intelligence behind him sitting like that. Lauren tugged her uniform coat off, and passed it back to Shaena, so she could hang it on he rail behind her. They were at the top of the band stand separated from the back wall only by the battery percussion.

Alexander, the infamous percussionist, who turned out to be a scrawny boy with thick, messy, blond-brown hair and dark blue eyes, pulled off his snare drum and crouched, saying something quietly to Noah. The older boy frowned and straightened, looking across the field at something in the visitor's stands. Suddenly, he laughed. "Hey! You're right!"

"What?" Lauren, who had been bent over her trumpet, examining something wondered, looking over at the sound of Noah's laughter.

Dekka, however, answered, for she had already followed Noah's gaze and seen. The other team's band was removing their box-like hats, and in the very front, with the flutes, was a girl, shaking her head as she attempted to get the short swoop back into some kind of order. "Are we talking about the girl with Chris's hair cut?"

"Seriously!" Lauren exclaimed, leaping to her feet. Shaena had heard her as well, and was standing on her bench to see.

Then, she laughed. "Hey, Chris!"

"Yeah, I see her!" Chris called back from her position at eh bottom of the stands with the other flutes. She didn't look away from the girl. Kids around the stand were beginning to notice what she was so fascinated by. It created a sort of ripple effect as kids began pointing it out to those around them, who would turn and do the same. They began to stand, point, laugh, and stare, open-mouthed crating a big deal. In a way, it really was a big deal, Dekka had learned very quickly that Chris's hair was something that made her stand out before you ever spoke to her. No one had yet dared to copy it, because, really, who wanted to mess with that kind of individuality?

_Individuality_

Chris barely registered the commotion going on around her, payed even less attention to the similar effect happening on the other side of the field in the visiting bleachers, she was too focused on trying to make out the face of the other girl. She had to know where she had seen her before, because she had to have seen her before, it was the only way she could have her haircut. Chris hadn't copied it off of something she'd seen on the television, or read in a book, it was of her own creation. She had thought of it herself. It was a creation of her own imagination. She had drawn out her idea in a sketch book borrowed from Jessie's older brother, Josiah, and refused to pay until every detail had been addressed and attended to. So, the only explanation for this girl to have the exact same style, was that she had seen Chis herself, which meant Chris must also have seen her.

What she had though was an innocent interest, she found out was an unhealthy obsession as they stood to go prepare for the show, and she realized she had absolutely no idea what had happened the first quarter and a half of the game. She was relieved to look up and find that they were, at least, winning.

But she couldn't help herself, her eyes continued to wander over to the opposite side of the field, where the other band was also preparing for half-time. The other girl, however, had her back turned to them, standing in a small group of other girls, who kept glancing over at Chris, but the girl she rally wanted a good look at was careful to stay turned away. Figured. She wouldn't want to reveal herself to the girl she had stolen from.

It was a good think she knew the show like the back of her hand, because otherwise, she would have had to think about it, and since concentration was proving difficult at the moment, she would definitely have messed the entire show up.

But she didn't have to think, her body did what it knew it had to, without the help of her ever wandering mind, and the show turned out fine. When I was over, they were released to their free quarter, where they were allowed to raid the concession stand, and mingle with the other band. Chris found Shaena quickly ,and dragged her away from Beat and Raylee, who were going over the rhythm of a new cadence. Shaena protested, but Chris ignored her, so instead, her friend sighed, and said, "At least tell me where we're going!"

"We're going to meet my look-alike," Chris replied. This made Shaena grin.

"Going to chew her out for stealing your look?"

"Hardly." Chris rolled her eyes. Ar first she had been angry, but at this point, she was just curious. She wanted to meet the girl who was bold enough for her look. "I just want to talk."

"What a buzz-kill," Shaena sighed dramatically. "So you're not mad?" She received a shake of her friend's head in response. "It's a shame. I would snap on her if it were me."

I know," Chris laughed, and bumped her friend playfully. "That's just how you roll."

Shaena bumped her back, and they both fell into a fit of laughter. "There she is." Shaena pointed to the look-alike, who was surrounded by her small group, laughing. One of them, a short, blond girl with shinning blue eyes, thumped the girl's arm, eyes going wide.

"What is it, No?" They heard the girl demand loudly, throwing up her hands. The girl, No, nodded in their direction, and her companion turned, and winced. "Oh."

Chris smiled, and gave a wave. "Hi!"

The girl looked nervous. "Uh, hi..."

Chris held out a hand, causing the other girl to flinch, almost like she expected her to lash out. Chris couldn't help the upward twitch of her mouth, which she was painfully aware that Shaena had seen. "I'm Chris, and this is Shaena. We're from the Headline band, if you hadn't already figured that out." She gestured pointedly to their black bibbers, which made them look ridiculously like Steve Urkel.

Another nervous smile. "Uh, Erika. I'm Erika." She pivoted uncomfortably on her toes.

"And I'm Noel!" The blond girl put in, breaking the awkward silence that had followed. The girl also introduced the rest of the group, and then launched into giving an extensive, cheery chatter about how amazing their show had been.

It seemed like forever, before she finally finished, or maybe she was just pausing for breath, Chris couldn't be sure.

At any rate, there was a pause, and Chris was about to take the opportunity to return the compliment, even though she hadn't really watched their show, but she was interrupted.

"So what? Now you just leave without telling anyone?" It was Lauren, approaching huffily, swinging a bottle of Pepsi at her side. Noah was walking beside her, like always, there was a reason those two were called the inseparables, his ever-present grin making a path across his face. Walking slightly behind, being practically dragged by Lauren, who had a firm grasp on her wrist, was Dekka, the puppy who, form the first day, most had labeled as scary, intimidating even. Most had decided that if was best to leave her be. However, Lauren was intimidated by no one, something Chris figured had to do with the cause of her PTSD, which she only knew part of the story too. Noah, and Julie, Lilah, who didn't care as long as you let her talk, and Chris and Sheana, even, disregarded that notion. She was a person too, and no person should be completely alone.

At any rate, she had been made a part of their group, whether she like it or not, and Chris had gotten the feeling in the beginning that she had not. He obviously wasn't used to that kind of acceptance, and it had clearly made her uncomfortable.

Or maybe Chris was misreading it. Maybe she just didn't want to get close to someone again. Lilah's mothers, both highly respected doctors in California, had cared for the gloomy girl after the thing had come down. Lilah had told them all about Brianna, the girl who's heart had been burned from her chest. Lilah had said that it had never been confirmed exactly to what extent Dekka had cared about Brianna. For all they knew, they had simply been close friends, which wasn't unlikely, Chirs knew that if anything were to happen to Shaena, she wouldn't know what to do. But something about that just didn't seem right. Chris got the unexplainable feeling that what Dekka had felt for the girl had gone deeper than friendship. Only a thoery, really, but it was a very strong feeling.

A theory she would not be sharing, for that would bring about unbelievable ridicule.

Lauren came to a stop and smiled at Erika and Noel, and the other girls. Lauren, the strongest of them all, for she had refused to let curiousity get the better of her, and listen to Lilah's tale. She had even discouraged Lilah from telling it, insisting that Dekka's past was hers to share when and to who she wished, no for Lilah to gossip about. So Lilah had shared the tale only when Lauren was not around, and none of them had said anything about it.

Lauren, who had a nasty little past of her own, the details of which, only one person knew in full, and that was only because he had been there to see it himself.

"Who are our new friends?" Noah wondered teasingly, grinning at the group.

Chris saw one of the girls lean over and whisper something in Noel's ear, and the girl smiled dreamily and mouthed, _I know. _Poor girls, they had no idea that they had absolutely zero chance with him.

"This is Erika." Shaena gestured the girl.

Lauren smiled. "Nice to meet you. I'm Lauren, and this is Noah, and Dekka."

"Kind of cool that you two have the same hair style, huh?" Noah commented, nonchalantly, waving his hadn't absently. "I guess great minds really do think alike."

Erika blushed. "Actually, I saw it and had to go get it myself, so I guess great minds come up with good idea's and the rest of us plagiarize it."

They laughed. "So where have you seen me before?" Chris had to know, since she still couldn't recall the girl's face.

"All-region,"she smiled. "You were fourth chair and I was fifth."

It clicked in her mind, and Chris grinned. "Hey! I do remember you!"

She smiled. "I hope you don't mind the hair."

Chrs shrugged. "I should have guessed that someone would copy it eventually. That always happens.'

They stood there for a while and talked, until they had to start the trek back to the band stand, moving to beat the clock.

_Individuality_

By the time the game ended, and they made it back to the band room, everyone was essentially exhausted. Some didn't even wait, they stepped into the building, and sprawled out on the floor. Dekka was in room an additional hour, helping the uniform crew, and helping shove all of the percussion equipment back into the storage room.

When she was finally making her way to leave the building was still dotted with kids, some asleep, and others just too tired to get up and walk to the dorms. She passed Chris, who was leaned against the wall, looking comically similar to a puppet what had been plopped down there, and Shaena, who was leaned with her back against her friend, head lulled back onto her shoulder and mouth agape, snoring softly.

Usually Dekka would have left them there, just like that. They weren't her responsibility, they could do whatever they wanted. However, something compelled her to nudged Chris's foot lightly with her own, and then, when that didn't work, shake her shoulder. Chris jumped, shaking her head, her swoop becoming a golden halo. Her sudden movement caused Shaena to jerk awake, looking around frantically for the source of the disturbance. "As logical as sleeping on this hard floor is, I think you beds would be far better," Dekka informed them, crossing her arms.

Chris gave a large yawn, and agreed, climbing drowsily to her feet, and stumbling like a drunk. Dekka grabbed her arm, steadying her, and together, they managed to get Shaena, still far more than half-asleep, to her feet.

By the time they reached Dekka's room, Chris had managed to wake herself up only enough for an unsteady, stumbling walk, which was made to look even more dramatic by Shaena, who had not manage to wake up enough to walk effectively so instead, Chris had draped one of the girl's arms around her, and had one of her own around her friend's waist, supporting her herself.

At the door, Chris wished her good night, and thanked her, although Dekka doubted the younger girl knew exactly what she was thanking her for. Dekka didn't head into her own room until she saw Chris and Shaena disappear through their own door, half afraid that they wouldn't make it that far, but they did, so she went on in.

The room was completely, save for the lava lamp shining dull on the book shelf. She smiled at it, and crossed the room carefully to her bed. She tugged off her shoes, and was asleep before she ever hit her pillow.

* * *

She didn't know how much time had passed when she woke up. There was no way to tell by the sky, which was still hidden behind the black construction paper on the window. She was silghtly confused at first, unable to recall going to sleep. She was lying atop her comforter, on her ack, still dressed in the black band shirt and jeans that she had worn to the game.

As she lied there, trying to remember losing consciousness, she realized what had woken her.

A beam of light flashed across the ceiling, causing Dekka to bolt upright in bed, hands raising, which, in any other case, would have made her laugh at herself, but she was too focused on the intruder to care. "Who's there?"

The door, which had been edging quietly shut, slammed the last of the way as the intruder spun around, flashlight dropping to the floor in their surprise. "It's just me."

Dekka frowned, trying to place the voice, and just as it registered, the light flashed on and a groggy voice demanded, "What's going on?"

Lauren was sitting up in bed, the hair on the side of her head sticking out a crazy angles, one hand was on the light switch above her bed. Dekka realized she could have tuned on the light herself with her own switch and avoided a lot of this.

Jasamin was standing by the door, hands raised in a show of surrender. Her mousy hair was in all sorts of disarray. She was dressed in a baggy t-shirt and shorts that could only barely be seen under the shirt. The flashlight, still on the floor, looked as though it had barely missed smashing her bare feet.

"How did you get in here?" Dekka blinked, trying to rid the spots from her vision, and dropped her arms. It was the only thing she could think to say.

"Uh.."Jasamin rubbed her arm uncomfortably, "There..there was...ah..."

"I leave my key hidden outside at night," Lauren helped, rubbing her eyes sleepily. She shifted so she could lean against her head board. "Jasamin is in a room by herself and sometimes she gets scared. So I used to leave a key so she could come sleep in here when she needed to. Sorry, I've gotten so used to it that I forgot to warn you."

Dekka remembered Brianna, who used to sneak into the house when she thought Dekka was asleep, and crawl into her bed. She would always leave at the crack of dawn, before Dekka awoke, or so she thought. Maybe she was worried that Dekka would tell her to stop if she knew, or see her as weak, but Dekka had never asked, never even revealed that she knew, just let her do it, because if it helped, then Dekka couldn't say no.

"Sorry, I didn't mean to scare you. I forgot you were even in here, I was still half-asleep, and I wasn't thinking about it..."

Dekka waved her to silence. "It's okay whatever."

She smiled thankfully. Lauren held out an arm, and Jasamin scurried across the room, crawling into the bed and fitting herself into the space. Lauren gave her a light squeeze and mouthed _thank you _to Dekka, who flopped back down on the bed and muttered, "Just turn off the lights, would you?"

**Okay, so, I'm happier with this ending then I was with the ending to last chapter. It feels like this was really a chapter ending instead of me just cutting a scene short, which is how I felt at the end of last chapter. Anyhoo!**

**Questions****!**

**1. The beginning of this chapter started with a flash back, I'm considering doing this at the beginning of every chapter as a sort of foreshadowing to what's going on in the chapter, or a bit of explanation to the last chapter, and also, so we learn some about the Headline Academy kids. So what do you think? Good idea? Horrible idea? 20 points!**

**2. What was your favorite scene from this chapter? 10 points!**

**3. Okay, we're at Chapter five, which is a miniature milestone, plus, we reached double digits in the review! So, I'll only ask questions about he overall story at time like this. So...Which scene so far has been your favorite, or has stood out to you the most for any reason. 30 points!**

**Challenge!**

**It mentions that only one person knows the full story of Lauren's past in this chapter. I hinted at who it was, but I didn't just come out and say it. I thougt I made it kind of obvious, but you never know, it may have simply been because I already know who it is. So who is the is the person that knows Lauren's story? 30 points for the first. 20 points for every one after. and 10 for effort.**

**Okay! So I hope you enjoyed, and don't forget to leave a review!**


	6. The Most Important Part

**I'm Baack! Thanks once again to my three awesome reviewers! CrazyKitten2112 actually go the answer right, so yay! Congrats, and as for the others who guessed, good guessing, but you just fell short of the mark.**

**So! Scores!**

**CrazyKitten2112: 183 pts**

**Breeze xxx: 183 pts**

**Jennifer Adams: 30 pts**

**Now! Every seemed pretty on board with the flashback idea, so I'll be continuing with that. This one here is sort of ironic, which I think you'll all understand when you read it.**

**Also, the scene where Weston cornered Dekka at the vending machines, which are turning out to the be universal pinning spot(a joke that you'll understand by the end of this chapter.), got the most votes for favorite, so yay! **

**Okay, I'm done talking!**

**I own everything! (Wait a second...)**

_~The Most Important Part~_

_ It was mornings like this, when someone decided that knocking at their door at the break of dawn was appropriate, not rude, like most normal people considered it to be, that Chris wished she was like Shaena. She swore that the dark-skinned girl could sleep through a car crash. _

Thump! Thump! Thump! _The knocking was becoming incessant, and getting louder ever time. _Just ignore them, _she told herself, nestling farther into her blankets. _

Thump, thump, thump, thump! _Whoever they were, they were insistent. The last time someone had been so set on getting in, it had been her grandmother, right after her mother lost full custody and she went to live with her instead. She had been convinced that Chris had left in the night to go to her mother's, especially when she found Chris's door locked, and received no reply from knocking, because she knew there was no way the girl was sleeping though it, Chris had always been a mostly light sleeper, except on the occasions that she was dead tired, in which case, waking her became like normally waking Shaena, and waking Shaena became all but impossible. _

_ Needless to say, Chris had not been the only angry one when the door had been kicked down by a neighbor whom her grandmother had dragged over to help. _

_ Chris sighed and decided that it would be best to just answer them, then have them go find someone to open the door for them. _

_ She found herself taken aback when the door swung open, and she was staring at her girlfriend, of two weeks. _

_ "Um...Good morning?"_

_ "I called you last night," Rose snapped at her, shoving her way into the room. _

_ Chris frowned, knitting her brow. "Well, I was at the game most of last night."_

_ "So? Lots of people were at the game last night, but _they _still answered their phones."_

_ "Yeah, well, Burkly makes us turn our phones off in the band stand, so.."_

_ "So? You have you're phone on in class all the time."_

_ "Yeah, but in class I'm sitting in the back of the room, with a desk to hide it. In the band stand I'm in the very front row, right in front of him, with nothing in front of me to hide it."_

_ "That's not an excuse."_

_ "Really? I thought it was." Chris winced, realizing too late sarcasm was probably not going to help this situation. _

_ She was right, because Rose crossed her arms angrily. "You're not funny!"_

_ "That wasn't me being funny that was me pointing out the stupidity of what you said." Chris wished someone would shoving a sock in her mouth, because the thing was acting without permission from her brain. _

_ Rose threw up her hands, looking scandalized. "Really? So now I'm stupid."_

_ "No! That's not what I said!" _

_ This was definitely not going in her favor..._

_~The Most Important Part~_

The next morning Dekka awoke to shouting. She opened her eyes reluctantly, and sat up in bed, yawning. The muffled voices were coming from the hallway, not far from their door. She noticed Jasami was standing by the door, ear pressed agianst the surface, listening.

A soft knock at the door caused the small girl to jump, then twist the handle hurriedly, opening the door just enough for Lilah to slip in. She was still dressed in a pair of black, silk night pants, and a matching, button up night shirt made of the same material, left open over a dark red tank-top.. Dekka noted that her dark hair was up in a neat ponytail, as though she had taken the time to fix her hair, but hadn't bothered changing out of her night cloths.

She eased the door closed, muffling the voices once again, but not before Dekka managed to make out Chris's voice, then she leaned against it, hand behind her back, and mouth at Laurne, brown eyes wide, _Oh my God!_

"What's wrong this time?" Lauren, still sitting in bed, half-covered by her comforter, with her arms resting lazily on her knees, asked in a hushed voice.

Lilah crossed the room on socked feet, and climbed into her bed, slipping under the blankets, before replying, "Chris's phone was turned off last night."

"Chris didn't do that," Jasamin whispered, still standing by the door.

"Yeah, Lauren agreed, "That was Dumb and Dumber."

Dekka remember that. Before Nick and Austin had left the day before, Nick had snatched Chris's phone, telling her that she wasn't getting I back until she made Rose stop using them as delivery boys. Chris had warned them that Rose would not be happy if Chris's phone wasn't on her, but they had waved her off, saying they'd make sure Rose knew the circumstances.

Dekka supposed they hadn't.

"Besides that, Burkley makes us turn our phones off when the games is going. Rose knows that."

"You think Chris ever does that?"

"That's not the point. For all she knows, Burkly caught her and took up her phone."

"Since when does logic matter to Rose?" Lilah yawned. She noticed Dekka, looking around uncertainly, eyes still bleary, and smiled. "Good morning, Sunshine. Didn't you love the wake up call?"

"Did you just call me sunshine?"

"Yeah. What's wrong? You don't don't like your new nick name?" Dekka just stared at the girl, which made her pout teasingly. "Oh! But it fits you so well!"

"Oh, that was just cold," Jasamin commented quietly from the door at the same time that Lauren smacked her friend's arm, saying:

"Would you leave her alone!"

"What?" Lilah whined indignantly. "She knows I'm only kidding, right, Sunshine?"

Dekka opened her mouth to respond, but a particularly loud shout from outside caused her retort to change into a question. "How often does this happen?"

Lilah thought a moment. "At least once a grading period...sometimes more."

"Sounds like they have some issues."

"Yeah, the issue being Rose is a jealous-" Lilah cut off abruptly as the door opened, casuing Jasamin to yelp and leap back in surprise. Shaena gave a muttered apology as she came in, and shut the door behind her. In answer to the expectant stares, she blew out a long huff of air, and shook her head.

"How bad is it?"

"Right no, a seven, and Rose hasn't even found a way to fault me yet, so I think we're looking at ten, nine at the least."

Lilah groaned. "I hate when it's a ten! Especially now since my usual hide out has been occupied."

"You can stay with me if you need," Jasamin offered.

"Yeah, stay with Jazz."

"I'm staying with Jazz," Shaena informed, taking a seat ont eh foot of Dekka's bed. She looked over at the other girl and asked, "Do you mind?" gesturing to her new seat.

Dekka leaned against her head board and crossed her arms. "Well, you didn't give me much of a choice, now did you?"

Shaena blinked, and though a moment. "Okay, it's way to early in the morning for me to follow smart-ass comments," she told her, shaking her head.

Dekka smiled. "I don't care if you sit there."

"Anyways," Shaena went on after giving another nod at Dekka. "I always tay with Jazz when this happens."

"You can stay with your sister. Didn't you hear? Caylee moved out of country, so Shaela's in a room all by herself."

"Yeah, I heard," Shaena grumbled. "But there's a reason we haven't shared a room in nearly eight years."

"You can both stay in my room. I mean, if one of you doesn't mind sleeping on a cot, or you could share the other bed." The little girl made her way across the room, abandoning her post by the door, and stretched out on her stomach across the foot of Lauren's bed.

"Is it winding down?" Lilah wondered looking hopeful.

Jasamin gave her head a disdainful shake. "Actually, it sounded like it was getting worse."

"I told you it would," Shaena commented bordly, leaning back on her hands.

"A girl can hope," Lilah sighed, sittling into Lauren's bed and turning on her side.

"Go ahead, Lih, make yourself comfortable. It's not like it's my bed or anything."

"Thanks, Fish. I didn't get any sleep last night, thanks to Drama Queen," Lilah, who had tucked one arm under a pillow and closed her eyes as though to sleep, said.

Lauren sighed, unable to argue with that, and said, "If you start kick I'm gonna kick you out."

"I'm _not _a rough sleeper!" Lilah objected, sounding as though this was an argument they'd had many times. This point was exaggerated by the other three girls retorting:

"Yeah you are."

"Whatever."

It wasn't long before Lilah was asleep, and Lauren had veered the conversation away from the argument happening outside, although on occasion, the voices would grow louder and everyone's eyes would wander to the door. As it turned out, Lauren and Noah shared in their talent with recreating voices and sounds, which, Dekka learned, was why she was on scholarship in the first place. So Lauren lightened the mood in the same manner that Noah would have, had be been there, and eventually they had nearly forgotten about Chris and Rose.

Then, there was a knock at the door, and Dekka realized that the yelling outside had stopped. Shaena stood, slowly, raising an eyebrow at Lauren, who shrugged. She opened the door to Chris, who, like herself, was still wearing her band shirt and jeans. She looked ready of murder, a feeling that Dekka figured was not being helped by Julie, who came in behind her, grumbling irritably about waking everyone else up. Unlike the rest of he girls who had taken refuge in Lauren and Dekka's room, Julie was not dressed in her sleep cloths. She was wearing basketball short, and a black t-shirt, with her coal-colored hair in it's typical messy bun.

Two other figures scampered past them, and took up positions on Dekka's bed, Weslie sitting herself cross-legged, while Weston sat at the edge, feet swinging over the side. They, too, had changed out of their night cloths, and into identical black shorts and t-shirts sporting the Headline Academy emblem, and their names underneath over the year, 2012-13, however, Weslie's was a dark shade of blue, while Weston's was an equally dark shade of red.

"You went and got Julie?" Jasamin raised an eyebrow.

Weston crossed her arms. "Well, Lauren and Julie are the only two who can make Rose chill, and Lauren clearly wasn't going to do anything."

"I find it best to just let it all blow over." Lauren shrugged.

"We did wait!" Weslie defended. "But after a couple of hours, waiting for the storm to blow over gets tiresome, and when you have a way to stop it, shouldn't you take that opportunity?"

Lauren shrugged. "I suppose."

"Rose needs to figure out that he rest of the dorm doesn't care to hear about her relationship issues. This thing where she stomps up to your door first thing in the morning and starts yelling right there in the middle of the hallway is just childish," Julie was growling as she paced over to the window. She ran a hand over the black material covering it, almost fascinatedly, then pulled her hand into a fist and spun around, pacing back across the room. "I really wish you would get rid of that, it looks awful," she said half-heartedly.

"You wanna know the worst part about it?" Shaena was saying, causing Julie's comment to be mostly drown out. "The first day we were back, she was missing all day, without any explanation, with _her _phone off, and _Chris _didn't cause a big commotion."

Chris, who had taken a seat beside her friend and allowed her face to fade from murderous to mildly irritated, winced. "She means well." Not even she could make that sound convincing.

However, everyone's resolve to argue that point shriveled at the pained look on the girl's face. So instead, they fell into an awkward silence.

Finally, the silence was broken by a knock at the door. Julie, who had come back to the door in her pacing, pulled it open. The sandy-haired boy who stood on the other side, staggered back, blue eyes full of surprise, when he realized who had answered. "Hey, James," Julie greeted casually, raising an eyebrow at his reaction.

"Hi, um...Julie...er, I was...uh...I had a reason for coming, I did." He scratched the back of his head nervously.

James was a saxophone player, and another of The Nerds. Dekka had become accostumed to the confidence in his speech, like everything he said had been carefully thought through and he knew that he was 100% correct, and chances were this was true, because he had yet to be wrong. Lauren had onc said that James was the kind of guy that could turn a vegan back to eating meat just by saying that it was good.

However, now, all of that confidence and sureness seemed to have escaped him. He glanced frantically around, looking anywhere but at Julie, and stammered uncertainly. At first, Dekka couldn't figure out what was causing the drastic change of character. Sure, saying something wrong in front of Julie would most definitely result in getting a smart allec comment, followed by a correction, but Julie wasn't just plain cruel. Besides, James had a similar habit of correcting people constantly.

It finally clicked in Dekka's mind as Julie gave her trademark huff, as though he was just being difficult, and said, "Well, that doesn't help me. I have a photographic memory, not telepathy."

"Right...uh, I was...um..Looking for Jasamin. Someone told me I could find her...uh...here."

"Well, someone told you right," Julie replied, stepping aside to let him in. "I need to go. I promised Brooklyn I would help her with her history." And then she slipped through the door silently.

Dekka didn't miss the fact that James relaxed considerably. "Hey, Jazz, I was wondering if you picked up my music last night by accident, when you picked yours up from the stand." He had fallen back into his easy confidence as if someone had flipped a switch.

Jasamin shrugged. "I might have. Come on, we can go check." She slid off of the bed and exited the room, closely followed by James. "I'll be back," she announced, swinging the door shut behind her.

As soon as it clicked, confirming it was closed, Dekka laughed. "Wow, that poor kids got it bad."

That sent the rest of the room into their own laughter, which, amazingly, didn't wake Lilah, only made her stir in her sleep.

When she'd calmed down enough to speak, Chris said, "They've both go it pretty bad. I mean, you noticed she left as son as he got her, didn't you? Or did you actually believe that story about history?"

Dekka, honestly, hadn't thought about it. She'd been too focused on the results of her leaving to wonder what had really caused her departure, but she wasn't going to tell anyone that.

"Olive and I have teamed up," Lauren was saying. "We're going to make them go to homecoming together if it's the last thing we do!"

"Yeah?" Chris snorted. "Just getting Julie to go to that dance at all would be a feat. Getting her to go with a date?"

"You'd be better off trying to convince Rose o take me," Shaena laughed, then, suddenly, winced, realizing her mistake. "Sorry."

Lauren quickly re-routed the conversation. "You know who else we're coupling for Homecoming? Reggie and Shaela. They would be adorable together!"

"That's a terrible idea!" Shaena objected.

"Why?"

"Because! I don't like Reggie!"

"So? He's not dating you!"

"So, whoever my sister ends up dating, I have to deal with. Duh!"

"Well, excuse me! I'm not exactly familiar with multi-sibling dating policies," Lauren huffed.

"Ouch," Chris winced as Shaena did the same.

"Sorry, my bad...So, who are you going with this year? Going with Noah."

"Unless something changes between now and homecoming." Lauren shrugged. "Why, you wanna third wheel again?"

Shaena crossed her arms, huffing indiganantly. "I have a date this year, belief it of not."

"Seriously?" Lauren raised an eyebrow. "Since when?"

"Oh! Didn't I tell you?" Chris laughed. "I thought I did...well, she and Andre are talking." then she jumped up and said, "I'll be right back!"

She was out the door before what she was up to registered in Shaena's mine. The girl leapt to her feet, shouting, "Don't even think about it!" before pursuing her friend.

They could be heard down the hallway, Shaena demanding for Chris to give something back, while Chris laughed and replied, "No!" Then, they cam stumbling back into the room. Shaena had Chis's shirt balled in her fist, trying to use it to hold her back, while she stretched in an attempt to snatch a small piece of paper other hand, which Chris had held out as far away as possibly. Unfortunately for Shaena, Chris's arms were longer, and she managed to keep the small paper out of reach.

Weston hopped to her feet and zipped across the room, plucking the paper from Chris's hand and returning to her spot beside her sister. She unfolded the small paper, frowning. "It's just a homecoming ticket," Weston pouted, waving the paper disappointedly.

Chris tried to say something, but Shaena clapped a hand over her mouth and snapped, "No!" then she held out the other to the twins. "Give it back."

Weston refused stubbornly, and instead, put it in the hand that Dekka had stretched out silently. She looked it over, and Weston was right. It was just a slip of paper, printed with the words: _Headline Academy Homecoming: High School Level. _She turned it over habitually, and raised an eyebrow. "Found it."

Written across the back, in blocky letters and what appeared to black ink, were the words: _Be my date?_

"Really?" Weston leaned over to see and grinned. "Oh!"

She snatched the paper back and held it up to examine closer, with Weslie looking over her shoulder.

"What is it?" Lauren wondered when neither of the twins elaborated on their, or rather, her, find.

Weston flipped it around and held it out for her to see. Lauren frowned, squinting at it. "I can't read it from here!"

The younger girl huffed, and crossed the room, handing over the ticket. It took possibly a whole of five seconds for Lauren to take in the words, and crack a smile. "That's adorable! Who is this again?"

Shaena, who had given up on getting the paper back upon Dekka's find, crossed her arms stubbornly, forgetting why she didn't have them like that in the first place.

"Andre Gauge," Chris told her, voice no longer being muffled by her friend's hand.

"No way!" Lauren laughed. "You mean wicked quint player, Andre Gauge?"

"No, she was talking about the other Andre Gauge." Shaena rolled her eyes. "Why so surprised? Didn't think I could score that high?"

"Well, I mean, he's so nice, and you're so...erm..." She hesitated, obviously trying to select her next words carefully, but in the end, it was not her who finished the sentence.

"Dark and Twisty," Lilah finished, not opening her eyes, so that she still appeared to be asleep. Dekka wondered how long she had actually been awake and listening. The girl opened her dark brown eyes at last, sitting up and climbing to her feet. "I have volleyball practice. Can I borrow some cloths?"

"Only if you promise to give them back," Lauren replied, still examining the ticket.

Lilah laughed. "Well, if I don't, it's not like you can't come take them back. I mean, I am just around the corner," with that, she proceeded to cross the room, and dig an outfit from Lauren's drawer. "Congrats, by the way, for scoring Andre," she went on casually, slipping off her top shirt, but not bothering with her tank top. "_I _think the two of you will be cute together."

"Kiss up," Lauren pouted. Lilah gave another laugh, tugging a t-shirt over her head. Wordlessly, she made her way towards the door.

"Don't you think you're forgetting something?" Chris reminded, gesturing at her night pants.

Lilah shook her head. "I'll change out of my pants when I get to the gym."

"Well, then what as the point in changing your shirt?" Chris huffed.

Lilah looked as though she was going to give a logical answer, but then a look of mischief took over her features. "Why? You didn't like the view? I figured you would. I have been told I have a nice body."

"Aww," Shaena winced, burying her face in her hand and plopping down on Lauren's bed, muttering, "Bad images!"

But Lauren had already started her retort. "No, she was hoping to get the full view."

Shaena jumped up and decided, "That's it! I'm leaving!"

"Aw! Now look what you've done!" Chris gestured exasperatedly. "You made her leave."

"Oh! No! Shaena! Shaena, don't leave! Shaena! Come back!" Lauren giggled. "Oops."

"You're such a ham." Chris rolled her eyes, and stood. "I'm leaving."

"Bye!" Lauren called after her, as she disappeared, followed by Lilah.

"Thy forgot their thing," Lauren said, as though on an after thought, waving the ticket.

"We'll take it to them," Weston offered, taking back the small paper, and hurring for the door, pausing to grab Weslie. "Come on!"

Weslie had to take a moment to get her feet back under her, but managed, and the next second, they were gone. "And then there were two," Lauren said, throwing off her blankets. She stood taking a moment to stretch, and yawn, then said, "Wanna study for the English test Monday? Julie loaned me her flash cards."

"Why does Julie have flashcards for tenth grade English?"

"She made them for Allie Jai last year. Have yo always questioned everything, or is this just a new habit that you've recently picked up?"

"Hilarious." Dekka rolled her eyes. Lauren laughed, pulling an old shoe box out from under her bed, and from it, producing a stack of cards, with small handwriting decorating their surface.

"You wanna take the first test run, or do you want me to do it?" Lauren asked, shoving the box back under he bed with a foot.

If she tried to say that she knew what Lauren had meant by "test run" then she would have been lying. She had yet to fully comprehend the meaning of every thing that Lauren, or any other Headline kid for that matter, said. So she did the only thing she could think to do. She held out her hand, and replied, "I'll hold the cards up for you."

A smile told her that she had at least come close to giving the sort of answer Lauren had been expecting, and the girl handed over the stack, wrapped with a yellow rubber band marked in pen with the words, "English: Unit 1".

Dekka almost laughed, because one thing that she had learned about the dark-haired girl int eh three weeks that she had known her, was that Julie was far from organized. Her attitude was that anything she lost she could just recite, or write back down, word-for-word.

Dekka, personally, thought that she was putting far too much faith in her gift. She had seen the consequences of lacking in the organization field, and, despite the fact that it probably wouldn't cause something extreme, like nearly starving an entire population, it could have other draw backs. Like in the work force, for example. Getting a job would prove to be very difficult without any organization skills.

"Julie didn't do this did she?"

"No." Lauren snorted. "We all know Julie would just have left them shuffled around in the box. That was Allie Jai. She's not quite as up to par as Rose in the organizing category, but she does like to keep things looking pretty."

_~The Most Important Part~_

Chris had no desire to go to the band room, where the band booster club and Mr. Burkly often served meals for the band. Sure most schools wouldn't have allowed that, but, in retrospect, most schools also wouldn't have allowed members of the staff to pick up groceries for the students to stock up the mini-fridges disguised as nightstands, which most wouldn't of allowed them to have in the first place. Most schools wouldn't allow kids to roam around campus when their teacher was NIA, or allow their students to sleep in another student's room on bad nights. Most schools wouldn't have the owners of it adopt a student having trouble with foster care, and allow her to live on campus, raised by the staff.

But Headline Academy was not most schools.

So the band team served their people dinner every night, Lunch most days, and, on only rare occasions, breakfast.

Normally, Chris loved any time spent in the band room. That wasn't just a class room to her, or anyone for that matter, it was home, and the rest of the band was family. They hated each other to come extent, Andrew being a prime example, but when push came to shove, not a kid in the band would stand aside and let one of their own go down. Picking a fight with a band kid meant picking a fight with the whole lot. In fact, someone had managed to create a large banner reading: "Mess with one Band Geek and you mess with all Band Geeks!"

Chris was just glad that that had become as thing after the Rose had finished the t-shirts.

But on days like today, even the band room was not an easy place to be. Chris didn't have the patience to go try and deal with the concerned stares, and careful conversations, everyone trying to gauge her mood to determine if it was okay to ask questions.

And, of course, the cafeteria was never an option. That place was not a good place to be no matter what kind of mood you're in.

So instead, Shaena had agreed to steal away with some of the band room food and sneak it back to their room, if Chris collected snacks and drinks from the vending machines. As far as fights go, this morning hadn't been all that bad, not on Chris's part anyways. She could handle Rose's accusation and insults, and almost anything else that Rose could throw at her, but when she started dragging Shaena in, saying nasty, and irrelevant things about her, well, that was when Chris completely lost her patience, and what resulted was her being in a rotten mood for days. Normally, this lead to Shaena taking up refuge in Jasamin's room. Chris didn't blame her, she was well aware that her rotten moods were horrific, at best, but it still only served to worsen. Often, she had wondered who she was mad at when this happened: Shaena, for not sticking it out, or Rose, for making her so horrible that not even Shaena, who had more patience for her best friend than Chris deserved, could stand to be around her.

At any rate, Julie had stormed up, spitting like an angry cat, and broken up their fight before Rose managed to take the argument that far. So Chris's mood was considerably better than normal, and Shaena would not be leaving her alone tonight.

She was carrying out her part of the agreement, and raiding the vending machines, when the puppy walked up.

"Hey Dekka," she greeted, pressing in for a bag of chips.

The dark-skinned girl glanced at the box at her feet, bottom lined with candy bars and packages of poptarts, then back up at her, raising an eyebrow.

"Shouldn't you be at the band room getting lunch or something?" Chris wasn't in the mood to try and explain herself.

"I could ask you the same thing." Chris cursed mentally. She's forgotten about Dekka quick tongue, which normally Chris had a high respect for, anyone who could last more than a few seconds in a come-back battle with Julie deserved respect, but today it was only going to prove to be a pain.

"Touche."

"You stocking up for the winter?" The other girl wondered, turning away to another of the machines.

"No, just for the week. Typically, Rose gets over herself after a week, and we can make friendly."

"If this happens so much that you can gauge how long it will take to make up, then why are the two of you still together? Doesn't sound like it's a very good relationship to me."

Chris sighed. This conversation had gone in precisely the direction she had been hoping to avoid. "It's not that simple."

"Well, it's a good thing I'm not simple-minded."

Chris took a moment to try to find a way out of it, but she could think of none. The exit was behind Dekka, so she couldn't just walk away, and she couldn't stay silent, since that would just cause Dekka to ask again.

"A lot of people think we fight so much because we are so different. I mean, Rose is the girl that most parents point out and say, 'Why can't you be more like her?'. I'm the girl that they point at and say, 'If you ever get like her I'll lock you in your room until you're thrity!'. Rose has the looks most girls would kill for, I have the looks that most girls wouldn't be caught dead with. Rose has a rich family, my family can barely pay the electric bill." Chris paused wondering why she was saying so much more than she had originally been intending. "Anyways, we're not all that different. We do have one thing in common. The most important thing."

"What's that?"

"Abandonment."

"What does that have to do with anything?"

Chris laughed half-heartedly, trying, and failing, to lighten the mood. "Abandonment issues are painful. When I was younger and I had them, I couldn't sleep in a room by myself some nights, I refused to go to school, and I freaked out if I was left alone in a room, because I was scared to death that I was going to loose someone else important in my life." She shrugged uncomfortably, wondering once again why she was telling this girl this, and slipped the last of the money she had brought down into the machine. "If it wasn't for the little bit of consistency that I had in Shaena, who I still got to have play dates with, and share crayons with in school and all, I probably would never have gotten over it. The point is, Rose didn't go through the abandonment until a little over a year ago, so she's still trying to adjust, get past the hard part you know. She's still in that stage where she's convinced that everyone is going to just up and leave her, or shut her out. What she needs right now is consistency. So, if I remain a constant in her life, then I'm hoping that she'll get better. Then, maybe we won't fight so much, and people will stop feeling the need to ask why I put up with it."

"What if it doesn't?" Dekka asked. "Get better I mean. Some people never get over abandonment issues."

Chris stared at her uncomprehendingly. She had never thought of that, had no answer to that.

"It has too."

**Done!**

**Okay, so this chapter had a little bit of plot development, but mostly, it was for character development. **

**It is my hope that my writing pretty much speaks for itself, so, I'm just gonna skip straight to the fun part! **

**Questions!**

**1. Okay, I told myself when I started this that I was not going to ask the same question two chapters in a row, but I really love answers to this question, so I think it's probably going to become a consistent question. What was your favorite part of this chapter? 15 points!**

**2. How do we all like Dekka's new nickname? I wanted to have Andrew come up with it, since, as you've all probably noticed, he's the one that comes up with most of that stuff at Headline, but I couldn't pass up such a perfect opportunity! Anyways, 10 points!**

**3. We learn more and more about the characters as we go, but there's still a lot to be revealed. Which character do you feel you've figured out the most?(10 points) Which do you feel you still have a lot to learn about?(10 points)**

**Challenges! (There's two this time, because I'm an overachiever! XD)**

**1. Okay, so, twice now in the story, I have used the term NIA, once by Lilah, and once from Chris's character focus. This is not a typo, I actually mean NIA, it is yet another of Headline's notorious slang, so who can guess what it stands for? 1) 20 points 2) 10 points and 3) 5 points**

**2. So, in this chapter, Shaena mentions that Rose was gone all day the day they arrived back on campus. In an earlier chapter, this was mentioned briefly. So, what was Rose's excuse? 30 points! (I told you I didn't put anything in the story that didn't have a purpose!)**

**Thanks for making it this far, and don't forget to drop off a review! :)**


	7. Not Going to win

**I'm back! **

**So, first of all, big, huge thanks to xxx Breeze, who nominated my story for the Gone 2013 Awards. That was so awesome of you! *Virtual hug***

**Also, CrazyKitten got the first challenge. NIA stands for Not In Attendance. An das for the second, well, in chapter two, during the P.E scene, Chris mentions missing Rose the day before, and Rose replies that she was in meetings all day. ;)**

** Okay, now for the scores!**

**Breeze xxx: 153 Pts.**

**CrazyKitten2112: 185 pts.**

**I own only what I created;)**

_Not Going to Win_

September turned into October and teachers began passing out notices, warning students that half of the grading period was up and they were not at the grade level required to get out of taking semester tests. Dekka receive none of these, she'd never had a problem with grades, but Chris and Shaena both received one from their Pre-Alebra teacher, which Dekka was aware of because they talked non-stop about it for a week after.

Chris's prediction turned out to be right, a week and a half the fight, Rose strolled into P.E, and gave Chris a peace offering, a bag of cherrios that Dekka suspected had been stolen from Lauren's bag. A suspension that was not helped by the sever lack of munching on Lauren's part that day. This, apparently, was Chris's cue to apologize, which had confused Dekka, since Chris hadn't been in the wrong in the first place, but Lauren had explained that Chris failing to apologize only led to an entirely new fight, and Chris found it best to just say that she was sorry and make peace, whether she was at fault or not.

"I sort of respect her for it. I mean, I wouldn't be able to do it myself," Lauren said. "Don't apologize if I don't mean it. That's not how I'm programmed."

Dekka had to agree, she wouldn't have been able to do it either, although, she wasn't sure it was a respectable trait.

Homecoming loomed ever closer. This year, Headline Academy, who always held their dance later than most schools, would be having homecoming the weekend of Halloween, something that Rose, head of the homecoming committee, was milking every drop out of.

The Homecoming court voted on who to trust with the delicate matter of counting homecoming queen votes. Dekka, who had ever heard of such a thing, learned that Headline believed that the students needed to take their own initiative, so many things that would normally be taken on by councilors or other school officials, was put into the hands of students. Rumor had it that typically, the court voted for Lauren, Julie, and Jasamin, they used a committee of three, but this year, they seemed to think the new kid, who didn't know any of them well, so couldn't possibly be impartial, was the best choice, for Dekka had been asked to take the third spot along with Lauren and Julie. What was she supposed to say to that? "No, sorry, I'm not interested."...

She's tried, but it hadn't worked. The twins hadn't been lying when they had said that Rose was very persuasive.

So the second week of October was spent in her room, with Lauren and Julie. Dekka would read the votes aloud, and Lauren would keep a tally on paper, while Julie did the same, except, mentally, which no one would ever question anyways, making the paper tally slightly pointless.

From the very first mention of the dance, Dekka had a sneaking suspicion that Lauren and the Dark and Twisties and the rest of them would not allow her to stay alone in her room that night. Not without a fight.

That was confirmed the week before homecoming.

They were having a tennis unit in P.E, so their teacher had m spread out and take up positions facing the wall, so it could serve as their opponent.

Dekka, who couldn't get the stupid ball to stop hitting the wall and rolling uselessly across the floor, found herself instead watching Lauren, half-jealous as she had a continuous battle with the wall.

"Do you play for the school" She wondered, catching herself watching and going back to hitting the ball at the wall. It bounced off of a loose banner, and took a steep drop to the ground.

Lauren gave a short laugh, and Dekka wondered briefly if she was laughing at her lack of ability, despite the fact that that didn't sound very Lauren-ish. In the end, however, she decided that the other girl had simply been laughing at the question.

"No."

"Why not?" Dekka raised an eyebrow. "You're good."

Lauren shrugged, although, not a very convincing one, and though. "Too much other stuff, I suppose. Band and classes are difficult enough to juggle as it is. No need to add anything else to the equation."

Dekka had noticed that she had yet to catch Lauren telling a lie, and wondered why she constantly told the truth, even when it wouldn't help her out. Now she knew why. Lauren was a terrible liar.

"So, I guess since you're not much in the dating scene, you haven't been searchign for a date to homecoming."

Dekka blinked, so surprised by the drastic change of subject, that by the time she had realized what the subject had been changed to, she had already recalled the awkward conversation they had indulged in the first week of school. "Um, yeah. I'm no going."

"Yeah you are. The question is: Who are you going with?"

"You sound pretty certain. "What makes you think I'm going?"

Lauren laughed and snatched the tennis ball out of the ai, so she could turn and face Dekka. She ran a hand through her hair, forcing the dirty-blond strands that had fallen from her ponytail out of her face. "Haven't you figured it out by now, Talent? I'm many things, but easily deterred is not one of them."

Dekka sighed, and tried hitting the ball again. Lauren watched it bounce off of the wall, and snatched it out of the air before Dekka could hit it, which, needless to say, rather irritated her, since she had been trying to get it to do that for nearly a week now.

"At least tell me why so I can try to change your mind."

Dekka rolled her eyes. "There are so many reasons I'm not going."

"Like..."

"Like the fact that I don't dance."

Lauren snorted. "So? Do you honestly think Jazz dances?"

Dekka opened her mouth to argue, but it wasn't exactly a point she _could _argue. "I don't do dresses."

Lauren laughed again, and looked pointedly across the gym, where Chris and Shaena were completely off task, more focused on knocking the other's ball off course than hitting her own. Lauren didn't have to elaborate that one, Dekka knew exactly what she was getting at. Chris or Shaena in a dress was unfathomable at best.

Dekka sighed, wondering how she had not foreseen this.

"I don't have the money to waste on tickets. The back-up money my dad sent with me is limited." _And there's no way he'll send extra for something that requires a date, _she added silently.

Lauren grinned, and, from the pocket of her sweat-shirt, produced a small, folded piece of white paper. "You're loosing, Sunshine."

Dekka groaned. "You're calling me that now, too?"

Lauren shrugged. "It's the kind of name that sticks. Like GAP."

Dekka sighed. "Okay, what about: I have better things to do on a Friday night."

"Well that one just hurts," Lauren winced teasingly. "Come on. It'll be a big group of us. Noah and I, Dumb and Dumber, Liam, Beat, Jazz, and Julie if I can get her to go, and Rose and Chris will be around most of the night, and probably Shaena and Andre. The guys will make themselves sick having an eating contest, and Chris and Shaena will make fools of themselves on the dance floor, and if we're lucky, they'll shut off the music, and Beat will start a sick number that will get the whole cafeteria involved...Oh, come on. That doesn't even sound a little fun to you?"

She held out the ticket and Dekka eyed it warily, then reached out and took it reluctantly. Lauren grinned, then tossed her the tennis ball back. "You're hitting the ball too early, that's why it won't bounce right."

Dekka wasn't the only one that Lauren was managing to rope into going to the dance. That Saturday afternoon, she marched triumphantly into their room and announced, "I've done it!"

"Done what?" Dekka, who was lying on her bed with a book of riddles that Julie had loaned her as a challenge, wondered, half-interested, but more concerned with thinking of a liquid that could be used to set fire, aside from gasoline or diesel, which she had already though of and had been proven wrong.

"I got Julie and James to go to homecoming!"

"How'd you manage that? I kinda thought Chris was right, getting Julie on board for a date's pretty tough."

"Well, they're not going together. They're just both going to be there, which is a start."

"You're a piece of work, you know that?" Dekka told her, rolling her eyes.

"So I've been told," Lauren laughed, stretching out on her stomach across Dekka's bed, and cocking her head to read the riddle. "Oh! Alcohol."

Dekka cursed mentally, wondering how she hadn't though of that, and put it in.

"Reggie's the only one left now. I just have to get him to quit being so shy and just ask Shaela, I mean, we all know he likes her...and the next one is vampire."

"Would you quit that!" Dekka, who had only been halfway through reading the riddle, demanded, snapping the book shut as she realized that Lauren was already reading the next one.

"What?" Lauren smiled innocently, spreading her hands. "I'm giving you the answers.

"I would like to have a chance to answer it myself."

"Well, that takes all the fun out of it."

Dekka sighed. "Weren't you talking about harassing people into going to homecoming or something?"

"Yeah, because you were totally listening to that."

"Well, it's better than you stealing all of my _riddles_."

"They're not technically your riddles," Lauren pointed out, grinning. "They're Julie's."

"Well, at any rate, they're not yours."

"They're in my room."

"It's my room, too," Dekka reminded.

"It's been my room for longer," Lauren countered.

"Cheater," Dekka accused, putting the book away in her backpack.

"So, you've heard what the official homecoming theme is this year, haven't you?" Lauren chanced course again, something that Dekka was beginning to learn never ended well for her.

"No," she replied cautiously.

Lauren's grin widened and she pulled a folded piece of black paper from her short's pocket.

Dekka took it, and unfolded it. In big, orange letters across the front were the words:

_Night of the Monsters_

_Headline Academy Homecoming_

_2013_

Dekka sighed. "Let me guess. You have an idea."

Lauren, who had made her way casually over to her bed, grinned, and pulled a bundle ouf form under it. She shook the thing out, and threw it across her shoulders, and it wasn't until she was pinning it in the front that Dekka realized that it was a bright red cloak. She grinned mischievously, and threw the hood over her head. "Little Red Riding Hood, mid-transformation, with a werewolf to match." Dekka raised an eyebrow, and Lauren sighed, and pulled the hood back down. "I know it's been down a thousand times, but I've always really liked it."

She took a seat beside Dekka, who folded the flier, and handed it back to her. She'd already seen where Lauren was going with this. "You couldn't convince Noah to be your werewolf?"

Lauren shurgged. "Noah and Liam are dressing up as zombie version of Rose and Chris, but don't tell them that, it's supposed to be a surprise."

"What about Lilah, or Jazz? or-" Dekka stopped short when Lauren began to laugh. "What?"

"Wow!" Lauren said, shaking her head, sounding amazed. "Everytime I try to take an inch you set me back a mile."

"Well, I've never head it used like that before," Dekka commented, unable to come up with anything better.

Lauren emitted another sigh, and said, "Look, every blood relative I have is either dead or-" she cut off abruptly with an angry noise, although Dekka wasn't sure it was directed at her. "Anyways, my legal guardians are the owners of this school, so I live on this campus. The closest thing I get to family are the people here at Headline. Even Andrew's family. He's like the annoying cousin that nobody _likes _but everyone loves because he's family." Dekka laughed at the analogy. "And I'm trying to make you a part of that family, because...I don't know, but there's something in my head telling me that I want you to be part of that, but every time I try to do that _you. Push. Me. Away!"_

She had never seen someone get so frustrated with her lack of social skills, and somewhere inside of her, it felt good to have someone care so much. "I can't guarantee that I will stop questioning things..." she sighed, knowing she was going to regret this. "And I'm not wearing a mask..."

**I know, this chapter is short, and not much to it, but I am actually rather proud of it, it sets up nicely for next chapter, which is going to be a major chapter. Also, because of the epicness of it, I'm afraid next chapter will not be coming next Sunday like normal. (Okay, mostly because of the epicness, but also slightly because I have a Marching Competition Saturday...Go band! Yay..)**

**Anyways, expect to see me again here the Sunday after next. **

**Questions!**

**1. Fav. Scene? 10 points**

**Challenge!**

**Okay, so it hinted that there is a very personal reason behind Lauren's reluctance to join school sports, and this is related to another of Lauren's major quirks that we have seen. If you can guess which it is: 30 points (2. 20 3. 15) If you take a gamble at what the cause behind these quirks are, and get it right(and it is something that was touched on briefly in the second chapter;)) then I will give you double the points. (That's 60) and I'll be giving another 30 points on this one for effort(it's probably the toughest I've thrown at you guys since we've started.)**

**Well, that's all from me! Don't forget to review!**

**...Starry-eyed dreamer was here...**


	8. The Monster Among Monsters

**Okay, so I lost two days worth of writing because of a writing conference I ended up going to, and normally I would really be out of my mind about this, because I am a creature of routine, so updating in the middle of the week like this really upsets that routine. That said, I went to my last marching competition last night(regionals), and we got a 1! So I don't really care about the blip in my schedule right now because: *Begins singing* We got a 1! We got a 1! We got a 1! **

**For those of you who aren't band geeks and have no idea what that means: They score you on a scale of 1 to 4 based on marching style, form, playing and what not. 1's the highest and 4 is the lowest. So it was like getting an 'A' except so much cooler. **

**That said, I do apologize for keeping you all waiting. **

**So, let's talk about scores shall we?**

**Breezexxx: 228 pts**

**CrazyKitten2112: 230 pts**

**Wow, it's neck and neck. Well, we've almost reached the first checkpoint, so I'm rally excited for it!**

**Now for the chapter! Enjoy, and remember! I don't own anything that Micheal Grant created! Only Headline Academy and its students(Save Dekka and Brianna's sisters, of course.)**

_The Monster Among Monsters_

I was another one of those times when Dekka asked herself how she had let herself get dragged into this situation. She had never thought that she would get dragged to Homecoming, but never, not even in the wildest of dreams, she seen herself getting dragged to homecoming dressed up as a werewolf.

She'd had a hunch when she'd agreed to this that she'd regret it and she had been absolutely right. Lauren had had absolutely no intentions of putting her in a mask. Dekka had been aware that Headline Academy was a school brimming with talent, but what she hadn't known was how wide-spread the talent was. Everything from Lauren's own talent of voice control, to comedians, computer wizes, video geniuses, photography masters, and, have you guessed it yet?

Make-up artists.

Coaline Micheals, a girl that Dekka knew from third period, and as the girl who roomed across the hall, turned out to be just that. Granted, the work she did looked extremely close to something that a professional would do, which was amazing for a girl of only fifteen, but Dekka felt foolish, plus, the make-up was beyond itchy.

There was a bright side to this, however. She was completely unrecognizable. This meant that anybody who didn't already know who she was would not quickly find out who she was. This may sound like a strange bright side, but she was trying to uphold some form of a reputation.

Dekka had to admit, though, Lauren's idea to do a transforming Red Riding Hood had turned out exquisite. Coraline had done an excellent job. A fourth of the girl's face was a deep brown, and spontaneous tufts of dark, wiry hair sprouted everywhere. A long line of it made a line from her eye to the back of her head, melding the bright red hood to the side of her head. Claws stuck halfway out of one hand, and the dress was trampled and torn.

Noah and Liam had managed to pull off the Rose and Chris costumes, with old uniforms Lauren had gotten for them, and some help from Coraline. Still, it was definitely a strange one to look at.

When they walked into the cafeteria, they were spotted immediately by Chris, who standing atop a table that had been pushed to one side, swaying to an unheard beat. Her eyes lit up amusedly, and she shouted, "Hey! It's us!, pointing at them. Rose, who was standing with her back to them, turned, brow furrowed, then her jaw dropped.

"What do you think?" Noah teased, with a wide grin. "Good, huh?"

"That's awesome!" Chris laughed, hopping down from the table to get a closer look.

"No! It's awful!" Rose pouted, running a hand through her red curls. Thin strands of black decorated the red, and one of her crystal eyes had been turned black. She wore a powder, blue dress, who's bottom looked scorched.

Chris, on the other hand, wore a black cloak that was closed in the front so that any other details of the outfit were indeterminable. Her hood was pulled over her head, and her hair was kept back by something that Dekka couldn't see. A black eye-patch covered her left eye, and a thin scar turned her mouth up in a permanent smirk.

"What are you supposed to be?" Dekka raised and eyebrow.

Chris grinned, and tossed her cloak grandly over her shoulder, revealing the outfit underneath. A form-fitting top that was decorated with bright white material made to look like a breast plate of bones, and black slacks. "I'm the grim reaper's daughter."

"Right." Dekka shook her head. "Whatever."

She laughed. "Glad you're so enthusiastic. I like your costumes. Cor did an excellent job."

"Did you know about this?" Rose demanded, glaring at Lauren, who laughed, and gestured at the boys' costumes. Rose gasped. "Oh! You did!"

"It was my idea." Lauren giggled.

"Awesome!" Chris held out a hand for a high-five, which Lauren accepted. "You've seen what Jazz did, right?"

"No, you have?"

Chris nodded, grinning, and said, "Come on, Fairytail, I shall show you." With that she grabbed Lauren's wrist and began dragging her through the crowd.

Rose sighed. "Sometimes it feels like I'm her babysitter, rather than her girlfriend." She said before following after them.

Dekka had a sudden, flashing memory of Brianna, crinkling her nose and sticking her tongue out at Astrid's back. Rose reminded Dekka strongly of the girl. She was self-righteous, always assuming everyone but herself was in the wrong. As far as she could tell, Chris had done nothing wrong, so why was Rose acting as though she was being childish?

She followed Rose though the crowd, and they ended up by the large stage set up at the very front of the cafeteria, where Jasamin was sitting with a late of food balanced on her lap, and her feet swaying over the side. She was wearing a black bodice and a skirt that reached down to her ankles and was puffed to nearly half the little girl's size, and shining black Mary Janes, with white knee socks. Her hair was dyed black, and her eyes had been tuned beetle-black. One half of her face was a mess of burn scars that deformed her face. One of her sleeves had been burned away revealing one equally scarred shoulder. The skirt was ripped, and stained, and the strap of one of the shoes was snapped, standing nearly straight up.

"Cool costumes." Jazz offered her sad smile as the approached, slipping a cracker into her mouth.

"You, too." Dekka nodded.

"Thanks." She swung a foot, and picked a cracker off of her plate, holding it out to Dekka. "Cracker."

She shook her head, and Jasamin shrugged and nibbled on the end.

Lilah bounced over dark ponytail swinging, with Olive Brooks, James's older sister, following close behind. Lilah was a cheerleader, that much was clear, wearing a cheer uniform in the colors of Headline. A jagged scar ran from the hem of the top, just under her chest, to the waistband of her pleated skirt, and her black hair was plastered to the side of her head by a nasty looking head wound. Olivia sported similar injuries, but was dressed simply in a ripped uniform. Each of them carreid cameras.

"Photography!" Lilah announced, snapping a picture of Jasamin. "Cool costumes. What are you?"

"I'm a girl that that died in a house fire. What are you?"

"I'm a girl that died in a bus crash," Lilah replied with a laugh. "I thought I was being creative, guess I was wrong..."

Jasamin shrugged. "Undead is a popular monster theme."

"True," Lilah agreed as Olive pointed her camera at Dekka. She held up a hand, silently telling her that she wasn't interested in allowing the girl to take her picture. Olive gave an innocuous smile.

"What?"

"Don't do that."

"Do what?"

Growing irritated with Olive, who was clearly messing with her, Dekka gestured at the camera, lowering her hand in the process, and said, "You know what." She realized a split second after the _click_ why Olive had been playing dumb, she had been trying to trick Dekka into lowering her hand.

"Ha!" She said cherfully. "I win... now I'm gonna go be somewhere else before she decides to kick my ass."

"Wasn't it you that won a ribbon at nationals last year for your speech about never backing down from a fight?" Jasamin wondered bordly, before Olive could leave.

The older girl laughed. "Yeah, well, there's a difference between finishing a fight that someone else started and avoiding a fight that you're antagonizing when you know you can't win."

"How do you know yo couldn't win?" Lauren teased. "For all you know, Dekka can't fight to save her life."

"Yeah," Chris chimed in. "Just because she looks intimidating doesn't mean she actually is."

"I'd rather not take my chances," Olive replied, flicking her look brings out her eyes. "See ya!"

"So, just out of curiosity," Chris started casually, once Olive had disappeared into the crowd, taking a seat on the stage beside Jasamin and stealing a cracker. "Could you have kicked her ass?"

"Chris," Rose sighed exasperatedly. "Don't you think that if she intended to tel you, she would have by now?"

"No," Chris replied stubbornly. "Nine time out of ten, she doesn't speak unless spoken to."

Rose opened her mouth to retort, but Dekka found herself interrupting the girl in spite of herself. "I've faced a lot worse than her."

"You didn't have to answer that," Rose said once she answer had sunk in.

"I know. I wanted to," Dekka replied flatly, offering a small shrug. "There was nothing wrong with the question."

She'd tried to make it sound as innocent as possible, but she knew she had failed miserably even before the amazed looks from the others registered. Silence stretched as everyone searched for some way to respond to that. After far too much silence, Shaena approached. "Wow, why's it so quiet? You'd think someone died or something..."

"Come on, we're going to go get some punch," Rose decided, grabbing her girlfriend's arm and dragging her away. Chris followed reluctantly. Rose walked straight past Shaena without a word, and the girl frowned, calling at her retreating back. "Nice to see you, too, Rose!"

"Goodbye, Demon Spawn," Rose snapped back, as unfriendly as humanly possible.

Chris grinned sheepishly, and mouthed, "Sorry" at Shaena, who waved her off casually.

Once they had disappeared, Shaena turned back around with a stupid grin plastered on her face. "Wow, running her off just keeps getting easier and easier."

She was rewarded with a light round of laughter. "Actually, it wasn't all you this time," Lauren told her, nudging Dekka playfully.

Shaena's eyes traveled over to Dekka, and a mischievous grin spread slowly across her face. "You?" Lauren nodded when Shaena nodded her head at Dekka. "Ha! I knew it! I knew Rose didn't hate me just because I was Chris's friend! It's because I'm black!"

A round of "Aw!" filled the air, and Jasamin rolled her eyes. "Leave it to you to turn that into a racist joke."

"Oh, come on, they threw a slow ball down the middle of the plate, and I had to swing!" Shaena laughed.

Lauren dropped her head in her hands and shook her head. "Jeez, Shaena! That is not what I meant!"

"Alright, Alright!" Shaena held up her hands in surrender. "What happened?"

So Lauren recounted the story happily, while Dekka examined Shaena, and Andre. Andre was nearly a whole head taller than Shaena, although, to be fair, Shaena wasn't exactly tall. Dekka had estimated that he was about her height. His face was rounded, not quite as exaggerated as Shaena's, but still noticeable, and his hair was a multitude of thin, black braids that fell over his ears and no further. None of these effects had changed, but his eyes, normally a warm brown, were now a bright red, like someone had flashed a picture of him. He was searing what appeared to be a Headline Academy band uniform, although Dekka seriously doubted it actually was, and sticking out about his heart was a short, thin piece of wood, with small markings that labeled it as a Headline Academy drum stick.

Shaena was clearly meant to be some sort of vampire hunter. She wore a snug-fitting black sweater and black pants with similarly colored combat boots. An ammunition belt was slung across her chest, but instead of normal weapons, it was filled with drum sticks, and hanging from her belt was a small mallet.

"How'd you convince Burkley to let you have the Chimes Mallet?" Lauren asked, as though she had heard Dekka's thoughts and was offering a tactful answer.

"I didn't," Shaena replied, pulling out the mallet and holding it up. "It's mine. I bought it when my mom took us to..." She paused to think, then cursed. "I can't remember where it was."

"So, are you supposed to be, like, a vampire hunter and he's a vampire that you just slayed?"

Shaena bobbed her head. "Yeah, good guess"

Dekka saw it coming long before he did it, but suddenly, Noah's voice was no loner his own. Instead, it was that of Bon Jovi as he sang, "_Shot through the heart, and you're to blame!"_

"What do you say, Andre? Does she give love a bad name?" Lauren teased.

Andre sighed. "How did I know coming over here was a bad idea?" But he said it with a smile.

"Because you've known most of us since we were elementary and you know exactly how we are," Noah suggested.

"That could be it." Andre nodded in agreement.

"Well, I need more food," Jasamin decided, standing and adjusting her skirts. "Wanna come?"

"I can't believe you have to ask!" Lauren laughed, following Jasamin, and grabbing Dekka to be sure she followed as well.

They arrived at a table, piled high with snacks of every kind, from bowls of fruit, to large, fancy cakes and plates over-flowing with variously flavored cookies, and dips surrounded by plates of crackers and chips. And at the very center of it all was a fountain, spewing chocolate endlessly, with a large group of kids who were apparently still first graders despite the fact that their paperwork said otherwise, since they were taking turns sticking their fingers into the fountain, and watching for teachers.

"Real mature!" Lauren called jokingly.

Austin and Nick, who were on guard shift, sucking chocolate remnants from their fingers, gave identical grins, and Nick called, "You're one to talk about immaturity!"

"At least I'm not gross about it!" Lauren retorted.

They just waved her off and turned to take their turns at the fountain.

Lauren shook her head, and examined the spread. "Rose hates me!" She nodded to herself. "She wants to make me fat!"

"Well, she's not taking a very fulfilling route, is she? Everyone knows you eat and eat and never get any meat on your bones." Noah poked her side as though to emphasize his point.

Lauren just gave her eyes a roll. "You act like I never gain any weight, or something." Noah raised an eyebrow. "Which is totally not true!"

The boy didn't look convinced, and Shaena left no doubt. "I don't believe you!"

Lauren pouted. "You people are far to dramatic! I do gain weight!"

"Well, not near enough for the amount you manage to eat in a day," Lilah responded, choosing a couple of slices of apple.

"You're one to talk," Lauren argued. "You never gain any weight."

"Yeah, but Lilah doesn't eat all that much, and hen she does it's all that healthy crap," Lilah.

Lilah looked as though she was going to make an offended comment, but a loud, staticy sound filled the air, causing the crowd to go quiet.

"Aha! It's working! Thanks, Mitch!" The voice filled the cafeteria with the help of the speakers set up. The source was a girl on the stage, made unrecognizable by make-up and costume.

However, Dekka had spent the past month listening to everyone talk about the DJ, and so she knew that it was Charlotte Barrett, a senior trombone with an ego to match her natural talent, which lay in music, especially the arrangements. The girl had an ear for musical arrangement that even the band teacher had to commend.

She was standing on the stage, behind the DJ equipment, leaning on it, with the bulky headphones pulled over her head, and the microphone down in front of her mouth, which would explain why she was being broadcasted to the entire room.

The boy who had been helping her stood, and said something that no one else could hear, and she offered a thumbs up in return, wearing a stupid grin, made to look even wider by the smile already pained onto her face with the neat lines and shades that only Coraline could produce.

"Alright!" She said as "Mitch" climbed off of the stage. "We were having some technical difficulties, but now, thanks to Mitch, those have been resolved, so we can get this party started!" The crowd erupted into a roar of cheering and hoots, infected by Charlotte's energy. The girl took a moment to revel in the attention, then held up her hand, causing the roar to die only slightly, but enough for her to be heard. "Here we go!"

Then, the music stared. A stead, thumping beat shook the floors and walls. Lilah turned back to them with a shake of her head. "Great!" She called over the new volume. "Another thing for Rose to be mad about!"

Lauren waved her off. "Rose doesn't need a reason to be mad. She just is! Always!"

Lilah shrugged. "That's true!"

They made their way down the table and to the refreshments. Lauren and Lilah rattling off a list of things that Rose had been known to get upset about. When they reached the refreshments table, they came across Alexander, bobbing his head to the beat of the music, but surprisingly, not tapping his own beat out. It wasn't until he offered one to Jasamin that Dekka realized the reason for that was that his hands were both occupied with cups of punch.

"Where's R and C?" He asked, examining their group as Jasamin accepted the drink with a small, appreciative smile, which was returned with a friendly one.

"Rose dragged Chris off a while ago, and we haven't seen them since." Noah grabbed two drinks, handing one to Lauren. "No telling where they went. Want one?" Dekka accepted the one he held out to her only because she had learned that offers from Noah or Lauren were not negotiable.

"That's a bummer." Beat's shoulders slumped. "The dates are cool and all, but everyone knows the only reason you really go to Homecoming is to be with friends.

_Funny, _Dekka thought, watching the ice bob lazily at the top of the drink. She'd always heard it the other way around; the dates were the important part, and the friends were just a nice touch.

"You're only saying that because you get a kick out of Chris's antics," Shaena accused.

"That...is totally something I can't honestly deny." Chuckles followed his response, and the boy smiled. "Anyways, come on. Jules got an empty table."

"A whole table?" Dekka questioned. Once again she had to wodner how everyone could possibly be so intimidated by the small thriteen-year-old. She was slightly short for her age, and, reallly, the only thing she had going for her physically was her slightly broad shoulders, which were only barely noticeable, especially with her habit of wearing loose-fitting clothing. Also, her fitness, which would, really, only give her the endurance. Not to mention her personality. She just didn't act like fighting was her thing. Dekka figured that if she had to, she'd rather it be a verbal battle than a physical one. And yet, still, people constantly said, "No one messes with the Duke clan, especially Julie."

"Well, everyone knows that where Julie is, the rest of us are sure to be, so they just leave it alone." Beat shrugged.

Well, at least that wounded more reasonable than them simply being scared of her.

They pushed though the crowd and found the nearly empty table quickly. Julie was sitting atop it, cross-legged, wearing a clean white lab coat and light blue scrubs, with a scrub cap melded to her head by what appeared to be exposed brain tissue. And, no bis surprise, there was a book on the table in front of her.

"You amaze me!" Lauren shook her head as they approached.

Julie's eyes flickered up from the book momentarily. "Something I've said about you many times," she said absently.

"Haha." Lauren rolled her eyes as she took a seat beside the girl, and looked over her shoulder at the book.

"It's a dance, Julie," Lilah told her, taking a seat on her other side. "Not book club."

"I might be a little more into it if it was," Julie countered.

"I bet you would, Jules."

Beat took a spot on Lilah's other side, and Jasamin sat beside him, offering a share of her cracker, which he accepted happily. "Looks like everyone had Coraline take a hand in their costumes," Julie commented, examinging Beat's thick scar that ran across one eye and down his face.

"Yeah." He grinned. "I bet she had fn."

"I think I would be more over-whelmed than anything else," Noah put in, taking a seat beside Lauren, and motioning for Dekka to take a seat on his other side. "She was probably doing make-up all day."

"He has a point," Lauren pointed out, waving a cookie absently.

Beat shrugged. "Well, when you're doing what you love, it doesn't always seem that bad."

"And Beat returns with an excellent point. What will Noah do?" Lauren nudges her friend with her teasing grin decorating her face.

Noah rolled his eyes. "When did you become a commentator?"

"Uh..." Lauren scrunched up her nose in thought. "Just now."

"I thought she was doing a good job," Lilah informed with a mischievous grin. Lauren laughed and held out a hand, which Lilah clapped enthusiastically.

"I hate it when the girls band together," Noah complained. "I never win when that happens."

"That's because we're awesome." Lauren gave a cheesy grin. "Especially together."

"No, it's because you're not playing fair," Liam argued, taking a bite out of a cookie.

"Playing fair isn't in a girl's programming. Haven't you ever seen a girl fight? We fight dirty!"

"Yeah," Lilah agreed. "We pull hair."

"And scratch."

"And bite."

The conversation shifted from there to guy fights, then to fights they'd seen at Headline, and with each story the fights grew more extreme, to the point that Dekka had to wonder if they were even true.

After a while, Lilah stood, collecting her now empty plate, and the camera. "I have to go," She announced. "I have to get some pictures for photography Monday, or Rose will have my head." She slipped the strap around her neck and added thoughtfully, "I heard there's a Frankenstein that nobody can put a name too. I'm gonna try and find him."

"You do that," Lauren told her, giving an encouraging thumbs up.

"I plan to," Lilah returned with a wink as she disappeared into crowd.

Dekka watched as Jasamin and Beat held a hushed conversation. As Noah cracked jokes that never slowed Lauren down, and Shaena and Andre listened with amused grins, Shaena not looking like herself without the presence of Chris, who still hadn't made a reappearance. She watched Julie, thoroughly engrossed in her book, and all the others who had wondered over, and wondered exactly how she had ended up with such a weirdly unique group, and more importantly, why it felt so right.

Lauren stood suddenly, deciding, "Bathroom break. I think my hair's coming down."

As far as Dekka could tell, there was nothing wrong with Lauren' hair, but her confusion was quickly subsided when the girl added, soft enough for only her to hear: "Come with me if want out of this noise."

Well, Dekka did want out of the noise, and away from all of the warm bodies that were making the room ten times hotter then it should have been.

So she did the only logical thing; she followed Lauren.

The bathrooms at Headline were as curious as anything else. The first door you came through did not lead into an actual bathroom lined with stalls and sinks on either wall. Instead, you cam into an exceptionally sized lobby. A large plant flanked each side of the door, and a ring of couches and over-stuffed chairs was set up in the middle of the room around a small coffee table piled with magazines. A small cup sat in one corner of the table, filled with pencils, pens, and even a coupld of highlighters. A long mirror stretched across the wall to the right of the entrance over an equally long table, decorated with small plants and decorative boxes. Beside it was another door, also flanked by large plants.

It was as though whoever designed it was planning to make sure students were comfortable while they waited for a stall to clear, maybe even get some homework done, but waiting wasn't something many had to do in these bathrooms.

That was because the bathroom itself, reached by the second door, was a room with four walls lined all the way across with cleanly painted black stalls. A large, round sink sat at the very center of the room made with faucets that were, like the soap dispensers, censored. Expensive? Yes. But Headline certainly had the funds for it.

And the bathrooms were kept commendably clean. The white, marble-laid floors always looked freshly cleaned, and the sink never sported long-dried soap stains. The walls of the stalls occasionally gained writing, but that was to never be seen two days in a row. Lauren claimed that the head janitor, Mrs. Perrie, cleaned it herself every day after school hours.

The sheer amount of stalls in one bathroom, plus the fact that there were five for each gender in the main building alone, not to mention that each individual building had its own set of bathrooms, as well, as each dorm room.

It was the most money, time, and energy she'd ever seen a school put into something as trivial as bathrooms. She figured it proved their obsession with detail if nothing else did.

The room turned the loud, deafening music into a muffled, pleasant thump. Much easier to enjoy.

Lauren sighed and collapsed on one of the couches. "Much better," she said quietly.

Dekka frowned at her. "So you go just to ditch halfway through?"

Lauren just laughed. "Oh, come on. No one can endure that much noise for more than an hour at a time."

She shrugged. "I suppose you're right."

"Of course I'm right," Lauren scoffed, wearing her mischievous grin. "I'm always right."

Dekka couldn't help the eye roll she gave in response. From there, they fell into a comfortable silence. That was one thing that Dekka liked about the girl's company; she was easy to talk to, but also easy to be silent with. One of the items on the growing list of things that she liked about Lauren. It had also been something she'd liked about _her. _

_The Monster Among Monsters_

_"You would have been as Sophomore next year? Right?"_

_ Dekka blinked at the question that had come out of nowhere. They were in her room, because the sick Jack was not the best to be around for more than one reason. She was on the floor, sorting through a pile of cloths that Brianna had brought in, half-hoping to find something that fit properly, and wasn't rough from salt water. "Where did that come from?" _

_ Brianna shrugged from her position on the bed in dirt-stained white shorts, and a too-large t-shirt. Her strawberry, windswept hair was pulled into it's normal twin braids, with loose hair hanging airily at strange angles. She'd been running a lot since the FAYZ started, and was obtaining a permanently windswept appearance. She was sitting cross-legged, picking absently at the edge of one of the many holes in the sole of her new tennis shoes. "I don't know, " she admitted. "I was just thinking about homecoming, the Sophomores are the youngest they allow to go."_

_ "So? It's not like I would've gone."_

_ "Why not?" Briann shifted, a normal thing, since she couldn't sit still for more than a few seconds, even if it would save her life. _

_ Dekka raised an eyebrow. "Seriously? Do I look like school dances are my thing?"_

_ Brianna gave her signature eye roll, and crossed her arms. "Homecoming is a right of passage. It's everyone's thing."_

_ "Are you saying I'm nobody?" It sort of hurt when she put it like that, but it felt really good when Brianna huffed, and replied:_

_ "That's not what I said! I'm saying it is your thing."_

_ "Really? I don't remember having that sort of change of character." She tried to sound bored in the hope that it would hide her pleasure at Brianna's defensiveness._

_ She didn't think it had worked, personally, but Brianna didn't even seem to notice. "It was always your thing, you just don't want to admit it."_

_ "You'll excuse me for having my doubts."_

_ Brianna made an irritated noise, and seemed to realize she was not going to get anywhere with her current argument, so she changed strategies. "So, there's nothing that would have gotten you to go?"_

_ "Yeah nothing..." Dekka replied, cautiously, unsure if she like where this was going to not. _

_ "Not even if there was someone that you really liked? Like, _really _liked?"_

_ "Wow." Dekka gave her head an amazed shake. _

_ "What?" Brianna wondered innocently, spreading her hand. "It's a...er... what was that ord you used the other day? The fancy word for serious?"_

_ "Legitimate?"_

_ "Yeah, that one!" She grinned a moment, went back to her serious, innocent demeanor. "It was a legitimate point!"_

_ Dekka sighed, and debated replying that she wouldn't take someone she actually like to a stupid dance. She'd do something better. Something that would be actually memorable. But she could already picture Brianna coming back with, "Well, what if they wanted to go to the 'stupid dance'?" And she couldn't come up with a reply that would end the argument. _

_ So instead, she said, "I don't know, Breeze. That's just on of those things that you don't know until you've been in the situation."_

_ The younger girl accepted that answer with a nod, lying back. "You'll tell me right?"_

_ "Tell you what?"_

_ Brianna hugged impatiently. "What you do! When you get in the situation!"_

_ Dekka laughed despite herself. "I seriously doubt that situation is going to arise here."_

_ "Of course it's not." Brianna sounded exasperated. "I meant when the wall comes down."_

_ Dekka chose not to voice her theory that the wall wasn't ever coming down. Brianna's optimism was innocent, and in a place like this, innocence was something to hold onto._

_ "Yeah, okay. I'll tell you."_

_The Monster Among Monsters_

"Uh, Yoo hoo! Earth to Dekka!"

Dekka blinked at Lauren, who was sitting up on the couch, giving her a confused look. "What?"

Lauren laughed, falling back onto the couch. "Wow, you totally zoned out."

"Sorry." One drawback of the silence was that it allowed time to think, and thinking almost always found a way to Brianna. It was amazing what her brain could link to the girl. Letting Lauren drag her to the dance just like she'd let Brianna drag her to the McClub.

She could picture Brianna now, grinning wildly. "I thought you said school danced weren't your thing."

The thought that she couldn't keep her promise to Brianna nearly overwhelmed her. It took every ounce of willpower to keep the tears down.

Lauren seemed to sense her internal struggle, for she stayed silent, watching Dekka cautiously. The girl wondered if it was that obvious, or if Lauren just had really good intuition. She hoped it was the second. She didn't want her own problems to be broadcasted to the entire world.

She didn't get much time to contemplate this, however, for suddenly, the door burst open, and Lilah stood in its place looking shocked. "What is it?" Lauren, who had sat up upon her arrival, questioned when Lilah didn't say anything.

"It's Frankenstein," Lilah replied. "He's a puppy."

"So?" Lauren hugged irritably at the other girl's vaugness. Then, realization flashed across her face. "No way."

Lilah only gave a worried nod.

Fire lit up in Lauren's eyes. "Oh, hell no!" She leapt from the couch and shoved Lilah aside, gone faster than Dekka could think.

"What's going on?" She demanded of Lilah, who was still standing in the room only because she was still in shock, otherwise, Dekka believed she would have already followed.

The dark-haired girl shook her head. "Not all puppies are as tolerant of our GAP Group as you were."

Dekka was about to snap at her for being vague, when it clicked into place in her brain. Lauren was close to all of the GAP Girls, but there was only one that could spark such anger in her. The one that she protected fiercely, like a little sister.

Jasamin.

They moved quickly, and arrived at the scene before anything could truly happen. They were not hard to find, everyone was staring at a circle that had cleared by the tables of food and refreshments. Some stood on tables, or on the stage. Charlotte had shut off the music, and had her hand on the microphone, looking as though she may say something at any second.

And at the center, was Lauren, standing, unmovable as a mountain, between the tiny, mouse of a girl, and a green-skinned Frankenstein, who stood nearly a head taller than herself. It definitely didn't look like a fight she could win.

And it was looking more and more like it would turn into a fight by the second. Lauren was seemingly calm, impassive even, which was scariest part, for Dekka, because of there was anything she knew about Lauren, it was that Lauren wasn't impassive about anything especially when it came to Jasamin.

And Frankenstein was in an all out rage, ranting something that Dekka couldn't understand, and Dekka got the strangest impression that she wasn't supposed to. It almost sounded like he was shouting in another language.

Lilah winced from beside her. "What?"

The girl glanced sideways at her. "Guess you don't speak spanish?" Dekka shook her head. "You're lucky." Lilah nodded to herself. "That means you can't understand what he's saying."

"You can?" It seemed like a rather redundant question, considering, but it was a slightly welcome distraction.

Lilah smiled half-heartedly. "My biological mother is Latina. My dad was, too."

"Was?" She'd heard Lilah talk about her mothers, she did that constantly, but she hadn't heard anything about a dad. She'd assumed she had been adopted, or though a sperm donor, but at any rate, no dad in the picture.

"Yeah, was..." Lilah fell very quiet.

Dekka might have asked for further information, she though about it, but it was then that things escalated.

"You think you're so tough? You think you can take me?" He cursed angrily at Lauren's lack of reaction, and surged forward, shoving her. Lauren staggered back, seemingly more of shock than anything, and into the table of food behind her. The table collapsed, sending food in wide arch. The chocolate fountain slide down and tipped over, spilling the smooth, liquid across Lauren's chest and lap.

"Hey!" Dekka shouted shoving through the last of the crowd, and snatching his shoulder. The entire room was silent. No one moved, or even breath. It was time to find at just how much fear Dekka deserved. She glanced over at Lauren, who seemed okay, only dazed, shaking her head slightly. "How about you calm down?"

"Or what?" The boy snapped, shoving her hand off of his shoulder. He didn't give her an opportunity to reply. "Do any of you dykes fight for yourselves?"

It wasn't that the comment offended her, really. She'd been called names before, but she hadn't heard it since she'd come to Headline, the kids at this school were a little more original, plus, no one aside from Weston, and probably Weslie, even knew. So it was shock that made her freeze momentarily which gave the boy time to continue.

"Every time one level doesn't work, another one shows up. Let me guess? There's a mountain waiting to defend you, right?" The silence that Dekka returned, not out of spite, but because she was still in shock, frustrated the boy farther. "Fine, then. I'll find out for myself."

He pulled his arm back, prepared to strike, and that motion snapped Dekka's mind back to reality. She was prepared to defend herself, but she never had to.

Dekka had been aware that Lauren was fast, for someone without super speed, but the speed with which she came off of the floor and cleared the distance between herself and Frankenstein was shocking, at best. The only warning that the poor boy had was a surprised shriek from Jasamin, but, by then, it was too late. A split second after it started, Lauren's fist collided hard with the side of his head. He staggered, dazed, then fell in a heap on the floor, the crowd that he fell into clearing away and providing no attempt at cushioning his fall.

And he didn't get back up.

"Next time," Lauren growled dangerously. "Make sure I don't get back up."

Dekka watched her, mesmerized, as she rubbed her hand gingerly, staining it in red, because of the blood that was leaking form her split knuckles, something that Dekka had done for herself on occasion.

Neal pushed through the last of the crowd, and examined the scene. He looked up at something in the upper corner of the room, before nodding. "Lauren."

Dekka glanced up, and saw the cameras, and half wondered what it was about them that brought relief to Neal's face. Lauren, walking the path that the crowd had cleared for her calmly, obviously not the first time she had done it. Neal nodded at Jasamin who was already following the older girl. Neal gave her a look who's message was clear, she was to follow.

If Charlotte turned the music back on it wasn't until after they were out of earshot.

Neal followed close behind them, looking irritated. Jasamin looked far from worried, and Lauren looked per-occupied, but not worried. Dekka figured Headline punishment must now be all that bad.

Then they reached the front office. They were lead into a room off to the side, and Neal shut the thick wooden door behind them, then cracked a grin. "Nice shot!" He congratulated, holding up a hand for a high-five. Lauren obliged, not looking as proud as Neal's comment implied she should have been.

In fact, it was quite the opposite. She looked rather angry, and possibly a little disappointed. The girl flopped into a chair, contemplating.

It was then that Dekka realized Jasamin was seated, too. Neal was giving her a curious look. "Well? Are you going to sit? You're going to be here for some time, we have to make this look good. The state only puts up with our fighting policy if we make thorough investigations."

He went on, grumbling about regulations, but Dekka interrupted him quickly. "What is the policy, exactly?"

Neal frowned, and gave Lauren a sideways glance. She shrugged. "It never came up."

The man sighed. "Sorry. I thought you knew. Here at Headline we believe that there are two sides to a fight. The offense and the defense. The person who stared the fight, and the person who was defending themselves; which is a constitutional right."

Dekka nodded slowly. She had never heard of this being done before, and there was a reason. School's worried that students would get an unfair trial. "You're not worried about being fair?"

Neal rolled his eyes. "Is it fair that someone can beat you up, but you still have to pay for it if you defend yourself? Any method you use will be unfair, but at least this way, you get a dose of reality. Courts don't punish you if you can prove you were acting in self-defense.

Well, that explained why he had checked for the camera. "So we're just going to sit in here so it looks like you're collecting information?" A nod. "But you're not going to ask anything?"

"No need. I saw everything. Plus, we have it on camera."

"So what was that guy's problem?" Dekka changed the subject. "What set him off like that?"

"I bumped into him," Jasamin told them, picking at the hem of her dress. There was something about the way she said it, the note in her voice. Something about the way she kept her head down and avoided eye contact, that was unnerving. It was though she was ashamed. Like they should be scolding her. As though she should have known better.

"It wasn't your fault." Lauren had her own note, of anger, but not directed at Jasamin.

"I could have been prevented."

"No it couldn't have," Lauren retorted, frustration edging her voice. "It was bound to happen eventually. You were just in the wrong place at the wrong time."

Jasamin didn't reply. She just sat there, picking at a loose string that she had freed from the white hem of the dress. It was obvious that she didn't believe the other girl. Lauren sunk deeper into her chair, her anger and frustration practically bubbling at the surface.

Neal checked his watch and rubbed his chin. "Alright, Jazz. I think you're okay to go."

Jasamin gave a nod, and stood, eying the man as he walked to the door. "Gonna walk me to my room?"

Both glanced ever so quickly at Lauren, then Neal replied, "You need sleep."

Okay, that most definitely did not answer Jasamin's question.

But Jasamin didn't seem to mind. So they left without another word. Silence stretched for only a few seconds, then:

"You shouldn't have done that."

"What?" Dekka blinked staring bewildered at the other girl.

"Interfered. You shouldn't have done it. I had that situation under control," Lauren elaborated, clenching her fist around the red fabric of her cloak.

"Did you? Could've fooled me. Last I checked, getting pushed into a table is not having something under control."

"You almost made the situation worse." She wasn't even listening.

Dekka ground her teeth. If there was one thing more irritating then getting lectured about trying to help, it was her defense being ignored. "I made the situation worse? If I hadn't distracted him he would've beat the-"

"I can protect myself! I always have!" Lauren was on her feet, making angry circles, and tugging at her hair. "Why is that so hard for everyone to understand? I don't need you to protect me! I'm not a helpless little girl! Not like you're little girlfriend!" Suddenly, Lauren stopped dead in her tracks, clapping a hand over her mouth as though in an attempt to shove the words back in.

But it was too late. The damage was already done.

At first it was like having all the wind knocked out of her. Like someone throwing something into her chest with enough force to stagger a...A what? What possibly required that much force to be knocked over?

That would have been the shock.

Then came the second wave, like someone had dropped a bag of rocks into her stomach, weighing her down from the inside out. The memories swirled around in her head, chasing each other in wild circles. No wait, they weren't even circles. They were wild swirls, and zig-zags. Paths that had no destination, just breezed around aimlessly, only concerned with outshining all of the others. Just like _her._

Tears fought to take over her vision, but the third wave extinguished them as fact as the second had brought them.

Searing, white-hot rage that produced flames in her head, licking at the inside of her skull, and turning her face hot. Blood boiling, she clenched her fist, nails burying themselves into her palms. "What do you know? Nothing! You don't know anything about me, so don't pretend that you do!"  
So many more things to say, and so many ways to say them, and yet, the words shriveled and died as she finally focused on Lauren again.

Her hand was still over her mouth, with tears streaming into and over it. She shut her eyes tight, and clenched the hand. Then, in a flurry of movement, was gone, through the door and out of sight.

Neal, who had just been coming back around the corner, paused and watched her go, then turned back to Dekka, mouth hung open as though to ask a question. It took a moment for anything to come out. "What...?"

"I don't know." It came out a little harsher than she had intended. "Am I done here?"

Neal frowned deeply, but nodded, and stepped aside when Dekka passed.

She assumed Lauren would go back to their room, so Dekka decided to go back to the cafeteria. She'd have been lying if she'd tried to say that she was surprised to find that it was mostly empty. The destruction of the food table can serve as a bit of a downer. Those who had stayed were there only for the purpose of cleaning up, and most were of the group that Dekka had somehow come to know as her own.

Strange how much was different here at Headline.

The room was almost dead silent, everyone busing themselves with cleaning up the mess of the broken table, save Rose, who was making a point of picking rest of the cafeteria. Dekka gritted her teeth at the annoyed, sideways glances that Rose kept sending towards Chris and Shaena, sitting together on the floor and scooping the puddle of chocolate into a bucket.

Chris turned her face up when Dekka approached. "Hey...Where's Lauren?"

She went back to the room, I guess."

"You don't know?" Lilah questioned, standing and carrying a handful of smashed fruits over to where someone had way a large black trash bag off of one of the tables.

"I didn't ask."

No one had a response to that, so the silence resumed. Dekka watched the Dark and Twisties scoop chocolate, feeling useless, until there was hardly enough to get in their hands.

"I'll go get some rags," Dekka offered. "There's not much more you can do with just your hands."

The two girls nodded, so she went. The rags took some time to find, and she ended up having to ask a janitor for help, but she managed to return with an armful of them, that ended up not being enough. There was just that much of a mess.

"Well, tonight was a bust," Chris commented when Dekka returned with more rags, dropping the last of the first bunch into the laundry bucket that a janitor had brought by.

"It could have been worse."

"How could this night possibly have gone worse?" Rose demanded. Apparently, she had nothing left to do around the rest of the room, much to Dekka's disappoint.

Murder flashed across Shaena's face, but a pleading look from Chris calmed it, and she replied in a commendably non-nonchalant voice, "Well, someone could've pulled out a gun and started shooting everyone."

Rose's mouth worked, but not even she had a counter-attack for that , so she grumbled unintelligibly, and begin wiping the floor ferociously, as though the dried chocolate was a fault for Shana's wit.

Dekka smiled to herself, and Chris commented gratefully that it was good that nobody had been killed, which seemed to infuriate Rose even further.

By the time they had the floor back to its normally clean state, everyone was ready to collapse from exhaustion.

They walked back to the dorms together as though by some silent pact. When it came time for the boys to split off and head for their own building, Noah pulled Dekka back waiting for the others to get out of earshot. "How bad was it?"

"Excuse me?"

"She yelled at you, right? Lost her temper and started ranting, and didn't' stop until she'd said something that really hit home?"

It took her a minute to realize he was talking about Lauren. "How do you know all that?"

Noah offered a half-heated smile, and replied, "The first time I tried to help Lauren in a fight, she told me that I couldn't treat her like a surrogate just because I'd lost my little sister."

"You lost your sister?"

"Yeah, but that's not the point. Was it bad?"

Dekka nodded, which Noah mimicked. "Try not to hate her too much? She didn't mean it. She was only mad."

Dekka smiled dryly. "It takes a lot more than a temper tantrum for me to hate you. I've seen too many bad people."

Noah smiled. "Good night, Dekka."

_The Monster Among Monsters_

Bread. Lauren had always had an unfortunate weakness for it. Any kind, form regular slices, to the fancy Italian-made bread, and biscuits. Especially the biscuits.

The food was like a security blanket. It made her feel better when nothing else could. They'd used it a few time to level her head after a particularly nasty PTSD attack.

So that's what she was doing now. Sitting on the bed, picking at a piece that she kept stored for special circumstances in the back of her fridge. Not sitting on her bed though. She was on Dekka's, because if she sat on her own, than it would be too easy to chicken out. To just roll over and pretend that she had no intentions of apologizing at all. But on this bed, Dekka would have to speak to her, ans her to speak back.

Finally, the door opened, and she came into the room, scanning it briefly. She raised an eyebrow when she noticed Lauren's position on her bed.

Lauren had no idea what to say to start a conversation, so she just remained silent, not moving. "I figured you would have changed by now," Dekka commented, tugging off the top layer of her costume.

"Didn't think about it." Well, at least it was an honest answer.

"You like it that much?" The lack of a smart allec remark didn'tseem like a good sign.

"I was pre-occupied." An uncomfortable silence followed. "Where'd you go?"

"I went back to the cafeteria. Everyone cleared out. Just a small clean-up crew stuck around."

Lauren bobbed her head, looking down at her hands when Dekka pulle doff her under shirt, trading it for a night shirt. Dekka had never indicated that she cared whether or not Lauren saw her change, but Lauren was still careful. It would be to easy to take it the wrong way. For too easy. And when she was uncomfortable, she would leave, and Dekka was the first room mate that Lauren had allowed herself to get attached to in some time.

"How did you know about Brianna?"

The question caused Lauren to frown. "Who?"

"Brianna. That's who you were talking about, right? My 'little girlfriend'?

"Oh. I didn't know," she admitted. "I sent of guessed. I've seen picture a few times. You're not as as slick as you'd hoped you were being, I guess. I didn't mean that. I didn't mean..." She didn't know how to explain herself.

"Yeah, I know," She told her softly, dropping her costume into the laundry basket. "We all say things we don't mean when we get angry enough. It only makes us human."

"You're still mad," Lauren accused, knowing nothing else could be true.

"I'm furious, and I always will be, but if you never make me mad in the entire time we know each other, than we aren't real friends."

"Friends?" It sounded strange, coming from the gloomy girl that she had been struggling to make just that for months now. She hadn't thought she'd gotten through.

Dekka took a seat on the bed, raising an eyebrow. "That what you call it, right?"

Lauren smiled. "Yeah, but it's nice hearing it from you. Sounds more validated now." She ripped the last of her bread in two, and held it out to the girl. Dekka eyed it cautiously, but accepted in the end, offering a half-hearted smile.

"I really wish you would have changed, though. You've gotten chocolate all over my bed." Lauren looked down, remembering the dried chocolate that had stained her cloths and dress.

"Oops, sorry. I fogot." She stood, tugging off the cloak. "I'll change, then help you switch the sheets."

A nod from Dekka followed, so she traded her ruined dress for a tank top and shorts, and they stripped the bed, and made there way down to the laundry room. There, they met Mrs. Perrie, and had to explain their circumstances.

"You art to be more careful, little lady. There are only so many extra bed spreads laying around," she scolded kindly, getting a fresh pile of sheets and blankets for them. Maybe she didn't mean to be kind about it, but her constant smile, and sweet, and thickly accented,voice made scolding rather difficult to take serious.

Lauren offered a friendly good night to the curly-haired woman as they left, and giggled. "She's awesome."

"Yeah." Dekka gave an agreeing, absent nod. "She's pretty cool."

"What's wrong?" Lauren was almost afraid to hear the answer.

The girl shrugged. "It's nothing really."

"Well, nothing's the best sort of thing to tell. It's harder to judge nothing."

"Okay, then." She paused, biting her lip. "It's just, well, you called Brianna my girlfriend."

"She wasn't? You seemed close enough to her for it."

Dekka shook her head. "We were more like...The Dark and Twisties. Like sisters. She even called us the 'Badass Sisters'." She smiled fondly at the memory.

Lauren wanted to push further. Ask more questions. Did you want to be more? Or did she want it? What happened to her? She wanted to know just how close to Chris and Shaena their situation had been.

But she remained silent.

**Okay, so this chapter was rather grueling, but, I am proud of the product, so I guess it was worth it. **

**So, question time:**

**1. Favorite scene from this chapter? 10pts**

**2. Who guessed that one of the main antagonists was going to be introduced in the chapter by the title?15 pts**

**3. What was your favorite quote from this chapter. (A line from the story that realy stuck out to you, and it doesn't have to be dialogue.)30 pts**

**4. You're favorite costume from the dance!**

**And, the milestone question(First major chapter of the story.)**

**1. Who is your favorite OC? (I say OC, because I know you all already know how you feel about Dekka, you've had, like, six books to decide! ;) And you're least favorite? (30 pts, or 15 for each.)**

**Because there are so many questions, I won't be doing a challenge. (Okay, the sheer amount of question, and the fact that I couldn't think of a challenge worthy of this chapter..^.^')**

**So! Leave your answers in the review! I hope you enjoyed!**


	9. Not-so-sweet Sixteen

**Okay, so, rather late update, but those will happen every once in a while. I am only human. **

**Thanks to my reviewers! Especially my newest, Kiwi Werewolf, who left an awesome review! ^.^ I have the scores in my notebook, but I left that in my locker yesterday, so I'll just skip that for this chapter, but I am still keeping up. **

**Now, for what you've all really been waiting for! The chapter!**

**I own only what I create. **

_~Not-so-sweet 16~_

"_Don't you just love stars?" _

_ Lauren glanced over at her room mate, who was hanging half-off her bed, hair falling in a curtain to the floor, and staring out the window. She blond's eyes wondered sideways, and she looked at the stars decorating the black canvas of sky. "I suppose."_

_ "Suppose?" The girl climbed back onto the bed, and put her head in her hand, propping herself up on her elbow. "You don't know?"_

_ Lauren shrugged. "Never really thought about them, I guess. I mean, they've always been just, sort of, there for me. You know? Like, I would miss them if they weren't there, but otherwise..."_

_ "That's sort of sad."_

_ "Why's it sad? Not everyone has the same interests as you, Vi."_

_ Violet laughed. "Stars are a source of wonder. You look at them and wonder what are they really?"_

_ "They're balls of gas."_

_ "Well, you don't know that until science ruins it for you."_

_ Lauren cracked a grin. "You're something else, Violet. You know that."_

_ The dark-haired girl shrugged. "I've been told."_

She'd thought forgiving Lauren would be the difficult part. Thought she'd have to fight to not be short-tempered with the girl, but she discovered that the hard part was actually staying mad at her. Lauren was the kind of person that you simply could not stay mad at, whether you rally want to or not. Like a puppy. Like Brianna.

Frankenstein real name was Adam Schranz, a sophomore who was in Biology, and English with little band. He didn't learn his lesson. In fact, the humiliation of having Lauren knock him clean out of the fight in only one hit, seemed to have only succeeded in fueling his hate-fire. He tried to start more drama every chance he got, but, mostly, he was ignored. Most didn't have anything against the GAP kids, and those who did, well, they had no desire to start a fight with Lauren and Julie, who's position backing all of the GAP girls was quite clear. Not to mention all of the others that would be around to back them up in a fight.

Everyone knew that starting a fight like that was just plain stupid...

Okay, well, everyone but Adam.

By mid-November, Lauren was no longer just someone she didn't mind having around, she was someone that Dekka felt she needed to have around, which she she knew was completely illogical. You don't _need _anyone. She'd thought she needed Brianna. Though she couldn't survive without her. Yet here she was, nearly a year after Brianna's death.

Nearly a year. The words rang in her head, causing physical pain. The ringing became more and more persistent the closer to the anniversary she got. Three weeks now. Only six days after Thanksgiving. She hadn't even realized realized Thanksgiving had come and gone a second time when the wall was still up. Rather amazing how unimportant things that usually held so much meaning became when you were fighting for your life.

But she was not fighting for her life anymore, or, at least not in the literal sense of the term.

And, as it turned out, Thanksgiving was a very popular holiday here at Headline.

"It's the only major holiday that's not limited to one denomination. It doesn't matter whether you believe in the cross, or the Star or David, or the crescent moon and star. You can be buddist, or hindu, or even atheist. None of that matters, because Thanksgiving is for everyone," Noah had explained the week after homecoming. Dekka suspected that the only reason he was capable of rattling off so many different religious references was they'd just finished studying a uni on the religious in World History, but his words were so true, and thoughtful, that she didn't even care.

"You know, you could at least pretend to be paying attention," Chris pouted. She was standing in the middle of her room, hands spread. Dekka, admittedly, had never been in any of the others' rooms before, but she had expected them to look just like her own, since that was how the rooms at Coates had been. However, Chris and Shaena's room was very different. They had taken their bed, and shoved them foot-to-foot across the far wall, and the night stands were shoved in the corners behind the headboard, both spilling over with papers and other odd objects. The book shelf was beside the door and decorated with writing in what appeared to be chalk, and holding text books and an array of, oddly enough, science fiction books.

The only thing that was the same was the dresser which had been left on the wall opposite of the beds.

The walls were decorated with posters, pieces of music, song lyrics, poems, and the most notable of their decorations was a large poster on the wall, depicting a dull rainy image, with a large spot of pink color on the right. The pink of a little girl's raincoat, as she spread her arms wide and laughed at the rain falling on her upturned face. Dull brown lettering that almost blended in with the rain read: _Life's not about hiding from the storm. _The the word changed to the pink of the girl's coat as they finished with: _It's about dancing in the rain_. It was definitely the last thing she'd expected from the Dark and Twisties.

Chris was still looking at her expectantly. "What?"

Lilah giggled. "Guess not, huh?"

"I think it's 'cause they're out of their comfort zone, Shaena joked, nodding at Lauren, who seemed just as wrapped up in her own thoughts as Dekka had been. "They're so used to our coming to their room that they don't know what to do now."

Dekka shook her head. They had been called to the room to discuss the Thanksgiving post-feast party, or, at least, that's what Lauren had called it. Apparently, a pair of room mates were selected every year to host a party after the Thanksgiving feast and this year was Chris and Shaena's turn. Of course, they'd called in all of their forces.

"Sorry," Dekka mumbled, knowing she didn't sound the least bit remorseful.

"You know, you really shouldn't apologize if you don't actually mean it," Chris teased.

"You're one to talk," Shaena snorted. "'Oh Rose! I know you were the one that jumped on m case with no reason, but I'm going to apologize anyways, so you don't cause more drama!'"

"Okay, fist of all, I don't talk like that."

"And second of all?"

Chris frowned, and furrowed her brow, finger still pointed at Shaena, who never stopped grinning. They sat like that for a moment, with Chris's mouth working silently, and Shaena trying no to crack up. At last, Chris dropped hand, and frowned deeper. "Okay, I hadn't thought that far ahead."

Shaena finally couldn't help herself anymore, and doubled over laughing, which caused Chris to cross her arms, trying to appear begrudging. Unfortunately for her, Shaena's laughter was infectious, and she couldn't help a grin.

"Are we almost done here?" Lauren finally seemed to have come back to them.

The laughter stopped, suddenly, and everyone stared at her. Lauren smiled sheepishly. "I really have somewhere to be. Can we do this tomorrow, maybe?"

It seemed that Dekka was the only one out of the loop, because everyone else exchanged knowing looks, and Chris and Shaena decided they were done for now.

Weston and Weslie were waiting outside. Weston nearly when the door opened, since she'd been leaned against the door, trying to listen. "That's a good way to get trampled." Dekka warned when the girl had regained her footing, and was looking up at her.

"What's trampled?" Weslie wondered, pulling her sister aside so the rest of the occupants from the room could make their way into the open of the hallway.

"'To beat down with the feet so as to crush, bruise, or destroy; tramp on.' As defined by Webster," Julie answered as she came out of the room.

Weston's confusion only seemed to grow, so Dekka translated. "It's what they call getting stepped on. A lot."

"Well sure, you can put it that way if you wanna dumb it down," Julie muttered.

Weston gave Brianna's irritated pout. "You know, if you would just let us in, we wouldn't have to stand in front of the door, and Dekka wouldn't have to use big words to confuse us."

"Trampled isn't a big word," Dekka informed her.

"It is in my book."

"That's because you're seven," Chris pointed out, "which is also why you're not getting in. You're too young even if we wanted you here." She flicked her hair and raised an eyebrow expectantly at Weston, who did just as she had predicted she would: argued.

"So? We can still hear the stuff."

"No you can't. There's a chance you'd tell everyone."

"And they won't?" Weston gestured pointedly to the others.

"They're bound by a contract to secrecy. A contract that we can't make you sign, since you're not technically supposed to be helping in the first place."

Weston had no argument. She opened her mouth, closed it with a frown, then shook her head and decided on, "Totally not fair."

"If life was fair then my brother would still have two working legs," Chris returned.

"You have a brother?" Weslie cocked her head.

Chris waved a dismissing hand. "Yeah, but he's only my half-brother, on my dad's side, and nearly ten years older than me. I only see him, like, once a year."

"My sister always said that family is family whether it's all-blood, half-blood, or none at all." Weston crossed her arms over her chest.

Chris laughed fondly. "Yeah, I don't think your sister meant that quite as literally as you're taking it kid," she told her, flicking one of the girl's braids over her shoulder.

Weston blew a huff of air. "Don't call me kid," she demanded, replacing the braid carefully. "And if she didn't mean it like that, then what did she mean?"

Chris ran a hand through her hair, frowning. "I don't know how to explain it. You'll get is someday."

"How do you know?"

"Because I'm psychic." Chris waved her fingers jokingly, and Weston rolled her eyes.

"You're lying."

"Figured that out all by yourself did you?" Chris offered her mischievous grin, which made Weston scowl.

"I'm going to leave now," she decided, turning and stomping away, grabbing her sister's wrist as she went. "Come on, Weslie."

"Bye!" Weslie called back, waving with her free hand. They waved back, and the little girl turned back around with a satisfied smile, narrowly managing to avoid running into Rose, who was advancing with a scowl of her own. "Sorry."

Rose showed no sign of hearing her. "Where's Lauren?" She demanded.

Dekka was going to point beside her, and ask if Rose was blind, but when she looked, Lauren was no longer there. It was now simply an empty space where Lauren had been standing only minutes before. She frowned at the empty space.

"Hiding from you," Sheana suggested quietly, not missing a beat while Dekka found herself confused.

Her comment earned her a sharp elbow in the ribs from Chris. "It's the fifteenth, Rose. You know Lauren always disappears today."

Rose shot Shaena kill look, and ranted. "Well, she needs to stop! It's been nearly three years now! Get over it so the rest of us don't have to put our business on hold because of you two days out of the year!"

Chris made an exasperated face, and took the girl's arm firmly, but gently. "Rose, what is it you need again?"

Rose turned from her rant to stare at her girlfriend. "What I _need _I Lauren to show herself. Come on, Chris, I've already said that. You're smarter than you're acting."

"If she really was as smart as you're implying, then she would have left your sorry-ass by now," Julie muttered into her hand, which her head was resting on as she propped her elbow into one of the tall, elegant tables that decorated the halls of the dorm building. Dekka only barely heard her, and was standing right next to her, so it was no wonder Rose didn't even flinch in her direction. She pulled her arm out of Chris's grasp, and shoved the girl aside, which caused Shaena to immediately tense up, fist clenching and teeth grounding so forcefully that Dekka was shocked she couldn't actually hear them, as Chris tried to argue.

"Yeah, Rose I got that, but what is it you need from Lauren. Maybe Dekka could get it from their dorm for you."

Rose actually laughed. "Yeah, go riffling through Lauren's things. That's go over well."

As much as she hated it, Dekka had to agree. Lauren had asked only one thing of her when they had first become room mates: "Don't go through my stuff. If I have is stored up, then it's probably like that for a reason." And even if Dekka did think she could take Lauren in a fight, she would go diggin through her stuff. Lauren respected Dekka's privacy, so Dekka respected hers.

"She's right. And even if I was willing to go through her things, I wouldn't know where to look." The smug look that crossed Rose's face irritated Dekka to such an extent, that she added, "But if Rose needs it, then it can't be all that important. She may have left it lying out, in which case, I doubt she'd mind."

She had to suppress a smile at the scandalize look that over-took the other girl's face. "It is extremely important!"

"Humor me."

Rose shoved crimson curls behind her ears and growled. "I need the plans for the Winter Ball."

Dekka frowned. "How many dances do you have at this school?"

"The Winter Ball is not just a dance!" Rose snapped.

"Once every month, except January and September," Shaena replied over Rose. "The Winter Ball's a little different, though. Everyone's required to go to it."

"Yes, and as I said before, extremely important," Rose put in.

"Well then, let's go see if we can find if for you."

_~Not-so-sweet 16~_

Lauren shivered and pulled her coat closer, but didn't move otherwise. She had to wait. Violet had always insisted on an hour of silence to appreciate the stars. The hour was nearly up now.

She went over everything she wanted to say in her head, as the timer sounded gently, and a smile played on her lips. "Alright, Vi, times up. Now you have to listen to me talk."

She turned her face to the stars, which winked back silently. "Happy sixteenth. You excited? Finally old enough to drive. You always liked that, right? Wanted to be the first woman to be a professional race car driver? Yeah, well, I guess Danica Patrick beat you to the draw, huh?"

The stars offered no response. Lauren fiddled with the hem of her pants, and leaned back on the grainy surface of the roof, Violet's favorite spot. "A lot's happened this year year. Jasamin is now officially a member of our little GAP community. We found that out when we came back for summer band. She talks about this girl she met back home, sounds really fond of her. I told her she should have gone for it. You never know if you don't try, and too late can turn out to be sooner than you think." Finally her eyes fell on the constellation she'd been looking for. Orion. "Ah, found you're boyfriend," she joked, smiling to herself. "Speaking of which, Lilah's been in a standing relationship since June, now. I know, amazing right. It's with some girl she met back home. I can't remember her name right now. Sorry. I'll tell you next month, okay?" Silence. "Anyways, so I have a new room mate. Her name's Dekka. I like her...well, you know, as a friend. She's really-"

She never finished, for at that moment, An agonized scream broke the cool stillness of the night air. A familiar voice that turned Lauren's senses on over-drive. One name echoed in the night air as the cricket started up their songs again, hesitantly.

"Harley!"

_~Not-so-sweet 16~_

Jasamin sat up in bed, breathing hard. She buried her face in her hands. Of all the nights for he nightmares to come, they chose this one. Lauren wouldn't be back in her room for hours, and even if she was back, Jasamin wouldn't go, Lauren had her own problems tonight.

She threw off the blanket, and decided on a trip to the vending machine for a midnight snack, maybe if she stayed up a bit, he nightmares would get bored with her. Unlikely, but she had to try something.

She slipped downstairs on bare feet, and reached the machines in minutes. The machines were being extra difficult tonight, and it took four tries to get it to accept her money, but she was rewarded with a chocolate bar, and a back of chips.

Satisfied, she began her trip back to her room, but she didn't make it to the door leading out of the caged off area of vending machines. Someone grabbed her shoulder from behind, and spun her around, slamming her into the side of the caged area. She yelped quietly, and felt the food fall from her hand. Blinking hard to will her eyes back into focus, Jasamin clawed at the hand digging her shoulder into the metal bar.

Tears filled her eyes, the first time she'd cried in years. She never focused on the actual face in front of her. It morphed into hard features, with eyes clouded and unfocused. Drunken eyes. The hair turned the same mousy brown as her own, and she heard the irritated, slurred shouts, masked over by the screams of another girl, trying to tug him off of her, threatening to do the unthinkable: Call the police. The threat got the man's attention, and he released the girl. As much as the pressure off of her shoulder should have been a relief, Jasamin never noticed it, for it was nothing compared to the pressure building inside of her as the man snatched her sister's arm, and lifted it so high, she was almost dangling off of the ground.

Harley's face contorted in pain, but she managed to hold back her tears, challenging him to do his worst.

No. No! "Harley!"

**Ah, next two chapters we will learn quite a bit more about our characters. More on Violet to come also. Yeah, and you're allowed to hate me for the ending for only a short time, deal? Next chapter, Will Lauren and Adam go round two?**

**Lol, moving on, let's get some questions, huh?**

**1. Favorite scene from this chapter?(10)**

**2. Who already figured out Jasamin's dad was a drunk abuser?(15)**

**Thanks for reading! Hope you enjoy, and don't forget the review! **


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